Benning Scores a Hat Trick to Lead His Team to a 8-3 Victory Against ECAC Northeast Rival Nichols College
MILTON, Mass.- Curry College defeated ECAC Northeast opponent Nichols College 8-3, in men's ice hockey action on Thursday night in Milton, Mass. With the win, the Colonels improve to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the ECAC Northeast, while the Bison fall to 1-6-1 overall and 1-2-0 in the conference.
The Colonels took the lead just 7:27 into the first period and never looked back. Curry outshot Nichols 17-7 and put up four goals. Junior Casey Brugman (Winthrop, Mass.) was the first to get his team on the board off an assist by junior Greg Fosso (East Meadow, NY). Just over two minutes later senior Michael Curran (Arlington, Mass.) found a loose puck in front of the net and shot it past the Bison’s goaltender, senior Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.). Senior Ryan Barlock (Chicago, Ill.) and junior George Isham (Chicago, Ill.) were credited with the assists. Senior Payden Benning (Estevan, SK) received the last two goals of the period to put the Colonels up 4-0 heading into the second period. Senior Josh Kamrass (Norcross, Ga.) assisted on both goals while senior John Williams (Flourtown, Pa.) assisted on one.
Nichols started off the scoring in the second frame. Curran was called for a holding penalty just 49 seconds into the period and the Bison capitalized on the man-up situation. Freshman Louie Educate (Chicago, Ill.) scored the power-play goal with freshman Tyler Narek (Phoenix, Ariz.) and sophomore Greg Strotman (Aston, Pa.) on the assists. Curry answered back with two more goals of their own. The first coming just 59 seconds later. Senior Mike Kavanagh (Little Neck, N.Y.) earned his first of the night off assists from Isham and sophomore Mike Lopez (Newton, Mass.). Benning scored his first hat trick of the season at the 15:46 mark. Kamrass and Williams each were on the assist. Curry outshot Nichols 17-10.
Nichols started off the third period the same way as the second by getting on the board first. Junior Danny Greiner (Columbus, Ohio) scored just 2:32 into the frame. Greiner took a slap shot from the blueline that sailed past Curry’s goaltender junior Joe Dawson (Woodbury, Minn.). He was assisted by Marek and senior Andrew Letellier (Saco, Maine). The Colonels scored back-to-back goals to make it eight on the night before the Bison would finish with their third with just three seconds remaining to play. Curry got goals from junior Ian DeLong (Kutztown, Pa.) and Brugman who scored his second. Barlock, Kavanagh, Isham and DeLong each had assists. For Nichols, their final goal came unassisted from Educate, his second in the game.
Curry finished with a total of 44 shots while Nichols finished with 25.
The Bison’s Rinn made 13 saves in 20:00 minutes of play. Rinn was replaced by sophomore Dylan Woodring (Rogue River, Ore.) who made 19 total saves in 40:00 minutes in net. Curry’s Dawson made 22 saves for the win.
Curry's next game is away at Suffolk University on Saturday, December 3 at 4:25 p.m. Nichols hosts Wentworth on Sunday, December 4 for a 7:40 p.m. game start.
