Wentworth Earns ECAC Northeast Semifinal Trip With 10-7 Win Over Salve Regina

BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward Skylur Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.) scored two goals and added three assists to pace the Wentworth hockey team to a 10-7 win over Salve Regina in the opening round of the 2010 ECAC Northeast Tournament.

The visiting Seahawks, seeded eighth, wasted little time getting on the board as senior forward Patrick Bamberry (Braintree, Mass.) scored just 19 seconds into the contest as a skated in on a breakaway after a Leopard turnover.  The goals would be the lone Salve Regina goal of the first period as the top-seeded Leopards answered with five unanswered markers to take a 5-1 lead after the first period.  Sophomore forward Casey Shade (Anchorage, Alaska) tied the game at 1-all on a feed from freshman Anthony Principato (Holmdel, N.J.) at the 5:16 mark.  Jameson gave Wentworth a 2-1 lead on a pass from senior forward Jeff Olitch (Calgary, Alberta) midway through the period, before Olitch and Jameson set up Shade one minute after Olitch's goal.  Principato and senior defenseman Martin Winzer (Nuremberg, Germany) would set up freshman defenseman Dylan Barbieri (Plainville, Mass.) at 16:40, before Jameson and freshman forward Vinny Muchalla (Prince George, B.C.) set up freshman defenseman Shaun Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.) on the power play at 17:16.

The second period would have a much different tone to it as the upset-minded Seahawks would double up the Leopards in the period, 4-2.  Bamberry and junior forward Joe Colaianni (Monroe, N.Y.) set up senior forward Tyler Trott (Rehoboth, Mass.) on the power play before Colaianni added an unassisted goal at 3:52 to trim the lead to 5-3.  Skylur Jameson scored from Principato at 7:19 before junior forward Geric Brodt (Anchorage, Alaska) scored from Muchalla at 12:19 to make it a four-goal game.  However, Salve Regina scored two goals in eight seconds – Trott (from Bamberry and Colaianni) at 18:04 – and Bamberry from junior defenseman Eric Spalt (Barnstable, Mass.) at 18:12.

Bamberry completed the hat trick just 50 seconds into the third period with a power-play marker from Trott that cut the lead to 7-6.  A minute and 48 seconds later Olitch scored what would stand as the game-winning goal, which was a power-play goal from Shaun Jameson and Shade.  At the 3:58 mark junior forward Billy Sabia (Ridgefield, Conn.) pulled the Seahawks back within a goal, but Principato's goal with 1:26 remaining and an empty-net tally from senior forward Michael O'Brien (Royersford, Pa.) with 53 seconds left sealed the game.

Bamberry finished with three goals and two assists, while Trott (two goals, one assist) and Colaianni (one goal, two assists) had multiple points for Salve Regina.  In addition to Skylur Jameson, Wentworth received a goal and three assists each from Olitch and Principato, while Shade had a pair of goals and an assist.  Wentworth was 7-for-9 on the power play, which set a new school record for power-play goals in a game, eclipsing the mark of six set in a 6-1 win against Nichols on Feb. 7 of this season.

Senior Justin Marriott (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) made 11 saves on the night, while senior Ryan Comerford (Merrimack, N.H.) turned aside 30 shots.  Wentworth outshot the Seahawks by a 40-18 margin.

With the win the Leopards improve to 20-4-1, which marks the third time in program history and first since 2002-03 the Leopards have eclipsed the 20-win plateau.  Wentworth will host an ECAC Northeast semifinal Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m., against an opponent yet to be determined.  Salve Regina ends its season with a 1-24-1 record.