Becker one better than Seahawks, 3-2

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. - Senior Mike Caprio (Valencia, Calif.) potted his third goal of the season late in the first period to propel the Becker College men's ice hockey team to a 3-2 win over Salve Regina University Sunday afternoon in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast action at Portsmouth Abbey Arena.

Sophomore Patrick Bellow (Newington, Conn.) and freshman Ron Paiva (Rehoboth, Mass.) also scored first-period markers for the Hawks, who evened their record at 11-11-0 (7-6-0 ECAC). Juniors Billy Sabia (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Joe Colaianni (Monroe, N.Y.) scored for the Seahawks, who scored a pair of second-period goals but could not get the equalizer in the third and fell to 1-23-1 (0-13-1 ECAC).

Bellow potted his ninth of the season 5:41 into the contest to allow Becker to grab a 1-0 lead. Paiva's third of the season at 11:41 pushed the lead to 2-0, and Caprio's tally at 18:20 stretched the Hawks lead to 3-0 through 20 minutes of action. Sophomore Andrew Parent (Fairhaven, Mass.) assisted on the first two Becker goals.

The Seahawk offense came to life in the second, and Sabia's third goal in three games and fifth point in his last three got the home team on the board at 15:05 of the second period. Less than four minutes later, Colaianni converted a pass from senior captain Patrick Bambery (Braintree, Mass.) at 18:20 to cut the SRU deficit to one at 3-2. In his final home game as a Seahawk, fellow senior Nate Burns (Sandwich, Mass.) picked up his seventh helper of the season on Sabia's goal.

The Hawks outshot Salve Regina 32-29 on the afternoon, including 18-11 in the first period. Each team went scoreless on three power-play opportunities. Sophomore Jake Roenthal (Wantagh, N.Y.) made 27 saves to improve to 10-9-0 on the season for Becker while senior Ryan Comerford (Merrimack, N.H.) stopped 29 Hawk shots.

The Seahawks earned the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament and will travel to No. 1 Wentworth (19-4-1, 11-3-1 ECAC) for their first round contest. The Hawks currently sit in sixth place and will have their playoff seeding determined following a contest at Johnson & Wales Monday evening at 8:30 p.m.