BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Mike Paglino's (Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.) goal with 1:02 left in regulation gave the Wentworth hockey team a 4-3 lead as the Leopards scored four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat Curry, 5-3, in ECAC Northeast action at Matthews Arena. The win puts Wentworth one point ahead of the Colonels for first place in league play with one game remaining and secures a first-round bye for the Black & Gold.
Curry took a 1-0 at the 4:31 mark of the opening period when junior Ian DeLong scored a power play goal from seniors John Williams (Flourtown, Pa.) and Ryan Barlock (Chicago, Ill.). Wentworth knotted the score at 1-all on a power play goal from senior Casey Shade (Anchorage, Alaska), which was set up by junior Shaun Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.) and senior Skylur Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.).
The Colonels took a 2-1 lead at 16:49 when Barlock scored on the power play from DeLong and Williams and extended their lead to 3-1 with the second period's only goal – a power play marker from sophomore Joshua Pineiro (Huntington, Calif.), which was set up by juniors George Isham (Chicago, Ill.) and Connor Hendry (Calgary, Alberta).
Wentworth inched within a goal at the 4:42 mark of the third period when sophomore Fred Gervasi (Mississauga, Ont.) was set up by classmate Cameron Gibson (Valencia, Calif.) and tied the game with 6:25 left on a Shaun Jameson goal, which was set up by Shade and Skylur Jameson.
Paglio's game-winning tally came off a re-direct of a junior Reed Rushing (Seattle, Wash.) shot and was also assisted by freshman Kevin Crowe. Curry pulled freshman Derek Mohney (Amherst, N.Y.) with 51 seconds left for an extra attacker, but sophomore Patrick Rice (West Des Moines, Iowa) intercepted a clearing pass and sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds left in the contest.
Freshman Alex Peck (Kirkland, Que.) made 20 saves to pick up the win while Mohney turned aside 37 in the loss. The Leopards outshot the Colonels by a 41-23 margin, including 14-4 in the final period.
The win was Wentworth's seventh in a row as the Leopards improve to 17-6-1 overall and 10-2-1 in league play. Curry falls to 12-10-2 (10-3-0). Both teams close out the regular season on Saturday; the Leopards are at Salve Regina while the Colonels host Johnson & Wales.
