Bison charge past Seahawks for 8-3 win

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. – Freshman Joe Sposit (Cleveland, Ohio) recorded his first collegiate hat trick to lead the Nichols College men's ice hockey team to an 8-3 win over Salve Regina at Portsmouth Abbey Ice Rink on Thursday night.  The loss drops the Seahawks to 1-3-0 overall and 0-2-0 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast, while the win improves the Bison to 1-2-1 on the season and 1-0-0 during conference play.

Freshmen Chad Goodwin (Whitinsville, Mass.) and John Scorcia (Tampa, Fla.) each had two points on a goal and an assist to lead the attack for the Seahawks. Sophomore Kenny Craig (Manchester, N.H.) added a goal for Salve Regina, while junior Jacob Hutt (Menlo Park, Calif.), and freshman Ciccio Biundo (Albertus, Pa.) each dished-out one assist in the loss.  Sophomore Mike McDonald (Whitby, Ontario) made 33 saves over two periods in net for the Seahawks, while sophomore J.C. Turgeon (Sherbrooke, Quebec) recorded 23 saves in just 20 minutes in between the pipes.

Sposit paced the Bison with his three goals, while freshman Louie Educate (Chicago, Ill.) led all players with four points on a goal and three assists. Junior Zach Kohn (Delafield, Wisc.) contributed three points on one goal and a pair of helpers, while freshmen Tyler Marek (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Johnny Blaus (Chicago, Ill.) each had a goal and an assist in the win. Senior Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) earned the victory in net for the Bison, making 25 saves on the night.

The Seahawks struck first when Biundo raced down the right side and delivered a beautiful pass to the opposite post, setting up Craig for the game's opening goal at 5:24 in the first period.

Sposit tied the score at 9:47 with the first of his three scores, receiving a pass from Kohn and finding the back of the net to knot the game at 1-all.

The Bison grabbed their first lead of the contest early in the second period when Educate and Marek set up Biaus for the go-ahead goal just under two minutes into the middle frame.

The Seahawks answered right back, tying the score just nine seconds later as Hutt and Goodwin fed Scorcia off the face-off to tie the score at 2-2.

Nichols grabbed the lead for good with a pair of goals just 15 seconds apart at 17:46 and 18:01 in the second period. Sposit broke the tie with a power play goal assisted by Educate, before Kohn stole a pass and converted an unassisted tally to put the Bison on top, 4-2.

The Bison put the game away by scoring the opening three goals of the third period, as senior Zach Hendrickson (Farmingdale, N.Y.), Marek, and Sposit each lit the lamp.

Goodwin scored at 10:35 as the Seahawks attempted to climb back into the game, however, the Bison answered with an unassisted Louie Educate goal just 15 seconds later to seal the 8-3 victory.

Both teams return to action on Saturday, with the Bison traveling to face Becker at 4 p.m., while the Seahawks face Suffolk at 7 p.m. in their first road contest of the year.