Seahawks furious comeback falls short in loss to Bison

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SEAHAWK MEN'S ICE HOCKEY RESULTS
Nichols 5, Salve Regina 4
Portsmouth, Rhode Island - Portsmouth Abbey
Saturday, February 24, 2018

Summary
Visiting Nichols College, sparked by a 3-0 start, hung on for a 5-4 upset win over the Salve Regina University men's hockey team in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championships Saturday evening.

Series and Streaks
The Bison own a 21-14-4 record in the all-time series.

Three Stars of the Game

1. Nichols freshman Oliver Arnberg (Nynashamn, Sweden) scored twice.
2. Nichols senior Colin Brenna (Chester, N.J.) made 37 saves to improve to 10-6-3 in net for the Bison.
3. Salve Regina freshman Paul Boutoussov (Dana Point, Calif.) scored twice.

Key Stat of the Game
The Bison scored on 20% of their shots, registering five total goals in 25 shots on net.

Turning Point
Oliver Arnberg netted his second goal of the game 1:49 into the third period and the Bison led 4-1. Paul Boutoussov scored at 5:16 of the third, sparking a scoring run for the Seahawks that saw them score three times in six minutes to tie the game. Tim Sweeney (Hanover, Mass.) poked home a lose puck at 8:33 then John McClean (North Andover, Mass.) corralled a lose puck in the slot and back-handed it in to knot up the score 4-4. The Seahawks continued to push, searching for their first lead of the game, but the Bison responded at 14:19 when Hogan Davidson (Duluth, Minn.) received a perfect pass from Filip Virgili (Malmo, Sweden), setting him up right in front of the goal. He buried the shot past Wojtala to steal back the lead for the Bison and take the wind out of the Seahawks sails. The Seahawks would pull the goalie with 1:22 left but could not get a shot on net and the Bison hung on for the upset win.

Quick Hits

• Blake Wojtala (Trenton, Mich.) made 20 saves in the loss to fall to 18-5-2 in between the pipes for the Seahawks.
• Nichols five goals today are the most given up by the Seahawks this season and their first against the Seahawks this year, having been blanked 4-0 and 2-0 in the regular season.
• Salve Regina held a 41-25 shot advantage.
• Both teams went 0-2 on the powerplay.

Next Up
Salve Regina (20-5-2) will await next week's results and the NCAA Championship selection to see if they earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament
Nichols (16-8-3) advances to the CCC Championship game versus the University of New England. The winner will earn an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.