Coupe leads Seahawks to 6-3 victory over Golden Bears

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (Friday, January 12, 2024)-- Men's ice hockey defeated the Western New England University Golden Bears after freshman Aidan Coupe catapulted the team forward from a 3-3 tie midway through the third period. 

With tonight's Commonwealth Coast Conference victory, the team moves to 12-3-1 overall and 7-1-1 in conference action. The Golden Bears fall to 4-9-2 overall and 1-6-2 in the conference. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Salve Regina 6, Western New England 3
Records: Salve Regina (12-3-1,7-1-1 CCC), Western New England (4-9-2,1-6-2 CCC)
All-Time Series: The Seahawks defeated the Golden Bears twice in November 2023. Going into the night Salve Regina was 33-9-1 all-time against Western New England. 

BREAKDOWN: 

• Period I: The first two periods were nail-biters for fans crowding the Cabot-Harman Ice Center. The Golden Bears' Everest Schneider got the day going with ten minutes gone in the period, but the Seahawks didn't have time to waste. Seth Benson found the back of the net just two minutes later (from Joel Shoemake and Hoon Kim). 
• Period II: Both teams brought a similar energy to the second period, with no one able to pull away. In a two-on-one situation Owen Schmidt made the score 2-1 in favor of Western New England from right in front of the crease. Two minutes later from center ice, a few feet from the Golden Bears net, Ian Tookenay once again tied it up for a 2-2 score. Western New England, not ready to give up a lead, made it look like they would be on top going into the third period. Justin Sullivan scored at seven minutes remaining. However, a slapshot sailing to the upper left-hand corner of the net off the stick of Hoon Kim (from Logan Calder) made it a 3-3 game. 
• Period III: For 11 minutes the physicality of the game became more pronounced, yet no one scored. Nonetheless, it was Aidan Coupe from the faceoff circle, with a wrist shot, on the power play that gave the Seahawks their first lead of the evening. Western New England pulled their goalie twice in the final minute and both Seth Benson (from Josh Kroon and Damon Zimmer) and Matthew Brunton (from Dylan Price) fired off empty net goals for a 6-3 final victory. 

NOTEWORTHY:

• Cayden Bailey stood between the posts for the full 60 minutes, making 25 saves. 
• Salve Regina outshot Western New England 52-28 with 25 of those shots coming in the third period. 
• The Seahawks served 16 minutes on four infractions and the Golden Bears served 14 minutes on seven infractions.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH KLANN: 

"We had the longest break that we've had since I've been here. Going up to Bowdoin, we made sure that we played simple. Coming back to conference play, anyone can win any night and we have to bring our A game no matter who we're playing. We're still nocking a little bit of rust off from the break, but we need to make sure we're bringing our best effort every night. This week we will be getting our legs back underneath us for a big weekend against UNE.

Credit to the guys for bringing it in the final period. Between the second and third [periods] we just knew that we were not playing to our standard and it was up to the older guys to start pushing and setting the tone for the rest of the team. We learned a lesson that we cannot take anyone lightly. This is a team that you could see in the first round of the playoffs, and they played a great game tonight. It's great to get the points, stay on top of the conference and continue to get better every day." - head coach Zech Klann

ON THE HORIZON: 

On Friday, January 19 the team travels to Biddeford, Maine and the Harold Alfond Forum for a 7 p.m. contest against the University of New England.