BOSTON, Mass. – Freshmen forwards Andrew Yarber (Livonia, Mich.) and Cory Lillie (East Hampton, N.Y.) each tallied a goal and two assists while freshman goalie Chris Azzano (Oshawa, Ont.) made 27 saves as the Wentworth hockey team ran in its unbeaten streak to three with a 5-3 win over Nichols in an ECAC Northeast contest at Matthews Arena.
Wentworth got off to a fast start as junior Mike Paglino (Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.) scored from Yarber and Lillie at 1:48 of the game. Lillie made it a 2-0 game with 5:14 left in the first period as he scored from Yarber and sophomore defenseman Dylan Barbieri (Plainville, Mass.). Sophomore forward Anthony Principato (Holmdel, N.J.) tucked one under the crossbar, off passes from sophomore defenseman Shaun Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.) and junior forward Skylur Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.), with 48 seconds left in the period to make it a 3-0 game.
The Bison trimmed the lead to 3-1 at the 8:36 mark of the middle stanza when senior forwards JoJo Bojanowski (Washington Township, Mich.) and Will Munson (Coron, Calif.) set up junior forward Andrew Ella's (Schomberg, Ont.) goal. Nichols made it a one-goal game when freshman forward Robbie Sorrenti (Wyckoff, N.J.) scored from junior forward Andrew Letellier (Saco, Maine) and sophomore defenseman Brian Gill (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) at 16:05. Just 43 seconds later the hosts extended their lead to 4-2 on a goal from freshman forward Patrick Rice (West Des Moines, Iowa), which was assisted by freshman Matthew Dozois (Manotick, Ont.) and junior forward Forrest Ellis (Pembroke, N.H.).
Wentworth extended its lead to 5-2 when Yarber tallied his first collegiate marker – assisted by Paglino and Lillie – at 10:17 of the final period before Nichols pulled within a pair at 5-3 when Letellier scored from Sorrenti and sophomore defenseman Will Brown (Hershey, Pa.) with 23 seconds left.
Azzano picked up his second win of the season as 13 of his saves came in the second period and five more came while Wentworth was shorthanded in the third period. The Leopards killed off all six of Nichols' power-play chances to extend their streak to 23 consecutive successful penalty kills.
Junior Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) allowed three goals on six shots in the first period before giving way to sophomore Ryan Casey (Pelham, N.H.), who was tagged with the loss after making 13 saves over the final two periods. Nichols held a 30-21 shot advantage.
With the win Wentworth improves to 3-3-2 overall and is 2-1-1 in ECAC Northeast play. The Leopards are at Suffolk Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Nichols sees its two-game win streak come to an end, falling to 4-2-1 (1-2-0). The Bison host Curry on Saturday afternoon.
