PAWTUCKET, R.I. – Sophomore Josh Obregon (Omaha, Neb.) scored a pair of goals to lead the Johnson & Wales University men's ice hockey squad to a 5-3 victory against Wentworth in an ECAC Northeast Contest at Lynch Arena on Saturday evening.
JWU junior Alex Porrier (Rutland, Vt.) got the Wildcats on the board early when he scored just 1:20 into the contest with an assist to freshman JP Larmoyeux (West Palm Beach, Fla.). The Wildcats struck again at the 3:24 mark of the stanza after Obregon put in a pass from freshman Stefan Brucato (Lake Elsinore, Calif.) to make the score 2-0. JWU took the two goal lead heading into the locker room after the first period while out holding an 11-10 advantage in shots.
Obregon's second goal of the evening, with assists to Brucato and fellow rookie Michael Mazzotta (Mars, Pa.), just 3:41 into the second period, extended the JWU lead to 3-0. Wentworth was able to get on the board 6:00 into the stanza with a goal by freshman Jordan Simmonds (Brighton, Mich.) cut the lead to 3-1. The Wildcats responded quickly, however when senior Eddie Patterson (Cinnaminson, N.J.) tallied an unassisted goal for what would prove to be the game-winner at the 7:39 mark. Wentworth senior Andrew Yarber (Livonia, Mich.) cut into the JWU lead at the 10:29 mark of the period with an assist to sophomore Mike Cox (Marlborough, Mass.) to make the score 4-2. JWU had the two goal advantage after two periods of play.
The third period saw the Wildcats up the lead to 5-2 with an unassisted tally by sophomore Luc Kilgore (Phoenix, Ariz.) at the 4:07 mark of the stanza. Wentworth junior Beau Burgau (New Ulm, Minn.) capped off the scoring on an unassisted power play goal in the final minute of play, but it wouldn't be enough as the Wildcats took the 5-3 victory.
Freshman Joey Ballmer (Kalamazoo, Mich.) made 35 saves in the victory for JWU while junior Alex Peck (Kirkland, Quebec) had 13 stops over the first 27:39 to take the loss. Sophomore Joel Miller (Calgary, Alta.) made 10 saves in 32:08 of action.
With the victory Johnson & Wales improves to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the ECAC Northeast while Wentworth falls to 1-3 for the year and 0-1 in league play. The Wildcats will return to action on Thursday, November 14th when they host Suffolk in an ECAC Northeast Contest at Lynch Arena. Wentworth hosts Salve Regina on Tuesday, November 12.
