EVERETT, Mass. – Junior Sean Brennan (Stony Point, N.Y.) had two goals and an assist as part of a four-goal third period to erase a 2-0 deficit and lift the Wentworth Institute of Technology ice hockey team to a 4-3 win over Becker in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at Allied Veterans Rink.
Winners of three straight games the Leopards improve to 8-11-3 overall and even their CCC record at 6-6-3 while the Hawks slip to 4-16-1 (2-13-0).
Wentworth carried play in the first period and held a 16-9 shot advantage, however, neither team was able to find the back of the net.
Despite outshooting Becker by a 19-6 margin in the second frame, it was the Hawks who got on the board, thanks to a pair of goals from freshman Charles Costello (Philadelphia, Pa.). At 4:44 of the period, he fired a shot in from the right side after receiving a pass from classmate Aaron Deady (East Greenwich, R.I.). Nearly 14 minutes later he gave Becker a 2-0 lead when he was set up by junior Corey Schafer (Johnstown, Pa.) and senior Nikolas' Nasby (Newberg, Ore.).
Scoring three times in a span of 4:48 in the third period, Wentworth took a 3-2 lead. At 1:53 of the frame, junior Adam lane (Sarnia, Ont.) sent a pass to classmate Jonny Spada (Glen Rock, N.J.). Spada fed senior Jake McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.), whose shot found the upper right corner of the net. Spada factored into Brennan's first goal of the night as he controlled the puck just inside the blue line where he sent a pass down low to sophomore Nate Chase (Plainfield, Ill.). Chase found Brennan in front to even the score at the 3:51 mark. Brennan fed Chase, whose shot was saved by sophomore Grant Martens (Bloomington, Minn.), however, freshman Jake Hallisey (Quincy, Mass.) capitalized on the rebound to give the hosts a 3-2 lead at 6:41.
Brennan put the Black & Gold ahead, 4-2, again on a rebound goal as Chase had his shot saved by Martens and he picked up the rebound. Sophomore Drew DiGeronimo (Fitchburg, Mass.) also picked up a helper on the goal.
Becker made things interesting late, scoring a shorthanded goal with 31 seconds remaining. Schafer cleared the puck out of the zone when he found senior John Dutney (Hudson, Mass.) streaking through the zone. Dutney's shot beat senior Ryan Hubbard (West Roxbury, Mass.) to the left side. Despite winning the ensuing faceoff, the Hawks were unable to maintain possession, allowing Wentworth to hold on for the win.
Hubbard made 20 saves to pick up the win while Martens made 50 saves in 55:04 of work. Sophomore Cody Foster (Saugus, Calif.) made one save in 4:53. Wentworth had a 55-23 shot advantage.
The two teams play the back end of their home-and-home series tomorrow night in Worcester, Mass.
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