Seahawks fall to Colonels in conference opener

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. – Senior Mike Kavanagh (Little Neck, N.Y.) compiled five points on one goal and four assists to lead the Curry College men's ice hockey team to a 10-2 victory over Salve Regina University during an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast contest at the Portsmouth Abbey Ice Rink on Saturday. The game marked the conference opener for both clubs, as the Seahawks fall to 1-2-0 overall and 0-1 in league play, and the Colonels improve to 1-1-0 (1-0-0 ECAC).

Junior Jacob Hutt (Menlo Park, Calif.) scored both of Salve Regina's goals, while freshman Michael Naso (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior William Gomolinski (Western Springs, Ill.) each had one assist in the loss.

Kavanagh led all players with his five points for the Colonels, while senior Ryan Barlock (Chicago, Ill.) and freshman Robert Kleiman (DeWitt, Mich.) each compiled two goals and two assists for the visitors. Freshman Derek Mahoney (Amherst, N.Y.) earned his first collegiate victory in net for the Colonels, making 37 saves on the afternoon.

The Colonels got things going early when Barlock scored a power play goal just 3:29 into the opening period to put Curry on top by a score of 1-0.

The Colonels added two more goals before the period came to a close, as junior Casey Brugman (Winthrop, Mass.) and senior Payden Benning (Estevan, Saskatchewan) each netted even strength scores to extend Curry's lead to 3-0.

Curry all but sealed the victory by scoring the opening three goals of the second period to build a 6-0 advantage. Junior Connor Hendry (Calgary, Alberta) got the scoring started with a power play goal assisted by Kavanagh and Barlock just 1:14 into the middle frame. Junior Ian DeLong (Kutztown, Pa.) then set up Kleiman at the 8:48 mark, just 10 seconds before scoring a power play goal of his own at 8:58.

The Seahawks fought back with a pair of goals before the end of the second period to cut the Curry lead to 6-2. Hutt got Salve Regina on the board with an even strength goal off a feed from Gomolinski at the 11:23 mark, and then scored a power play goal just over six minutes later, which was assisted by Naso.

However, the Colonels responded with four goals in the third period to solidify the 10-2 victory.

Curry will return to the ice on Wednesday when they travel to face Becker on the road at 7:40 p.m., while the Seahawks return to action on Thursday, hosting Nichols at 7 p.m.