Wildcats blank Seahawks, 5-0

North Smithfield, R.I. - The Johnson & Wales University hockey team posted a 5-0 shutout victory against intra-state rival Salve Regina in an ECAC Northeast contest at the Rhode Island Sports Center on Wednesday evening.

Junior Craig Houle (Burrillville, R.I.) put Johnson & Wales on the board at the 16:15 mark of the first period when he tallied a power-play goal with assists to freshman Jason Pietrasiak (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and sophomore Jeremiah Ketts (Foristell, Mo.). The Wildcats took the 1-0 lead into the locker room after the first intermission with a commanding 12-5 advantage in shots for the period.

The two teams then battled through a scoreless second period with neither team capitalizing on solid scoring chances and Salve Regina holding the 9-6 lead in shots for the stanza.

In the third period, the Wildcats exploded offensively, scoring four goals en route to the 5-0 victory. Pietrasiak started the action with a power-play marker when blasted in a shot from in front of the net converting a pass from Ketts and sophomore Shane Poulin (Merrimack, N.H.) just 3:52 into the period to take the 2-0 lead. The Wildcats then went ahead 3-0 on another power play goal at the 7:38 mark from senior Kevin Marchesi (South Portland, Maine) and took the commanding 4-0 lead on Pietrasiak's second goal of the period with 4:38 left on the clock. JWU closed out the scoring for the evening on Ketts' goal at the 16:38 mark of the period to send the Wildcats to the 5-0 victory.

JWU had a 34-22 advantage in shots for the game while also dominating the face offs with a 45-30 lead in the contest.

Freshman Jake Menzel (St. Louis, Mo.) made 22 saves for the shutout in his collegiate debut for Johnson & Wales while sophomore Ben Bradley (Newburyport, Mass.) had 29 stops for Salve Regina.

With the victory Johnson & Wales is now 2-4 for the season and 2-1 in the ECAC Northeast while Salve Regina falls to 1-5 overall, 0-3 in league play.

Courtesy of Johnson & Wales sports information