NEC’s Hot Start Too Much For Men’s Ice Hockey
Framingham, Mass.- The Framingham State men's ice hockey team dropped a non-conference matchup with New England College by a score of 5-2 on Tuesday evening at Loring Arena.
With the win the Pilgrims move to 4-2-1 as the Rams fall to 2-5.
NEC broke out early scoring three goals in the first three minutes of the contest. Bryce Nielson (Laguna Hills, CA) scored just twenty-two seconds into the contest followed by scores by Mike Whitehair (Victor, NY) & Conor Crouse (West Haven, Conn.) shortly after.
The Rams cut into the lead six minutes into the 2nd period when Keith Barnaby (Leominster, Mass.) scored an unassisted goal to put the Rams on the board.
Just about ten minutes later NEC moved the margin to three goals when Nielsen scored a power-play goal, his second score of the game. The Rams quickly answered with a Derek Ridgeway (Franklin, Mass.) score less than a minute later.
In the final minutes of regulation the Pilgrims were called for a penalty for too many men on the ice giving the Rams a power-play. After calling a timeout the Rams pulled their goalie to give them a two man advantage. However the Pilgrims won the face off and Kyle Manlow (Murrieta, CA) scored the empty netter to end the threat and seal the victory for NEC.
Brett Kilar (Coto de Caza, CA) turned away 32 shots in the win for the Pilgrims while Scott Nicolich (Glen Cove, NY) made 18 saves in the loss for the Rams.
NEC took advantage of the power-play scoring on two of their five opportunities. The Rams were 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
The Rams return to the ice on Thursday, December 3rd when they host Salem State in a MASCAC action at Loring Arena.