MALBOROUGH, Mass.- Becker College scored a pair of goals six seconds apart in the second period to defeat the Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology 6-3 in ECAC Northeast hockey action Tuesday afternoon at the New England Sport Center. With the win the Hawks move to 9-14-1 overall and 5-9-1 in conference play, while WIT dips to 8-14-2 (7-7-1 ECAC NE) on the season.
Junior Nicholas McKee (Bakersfield, Calif.) led the way for the Hawks with 2 goals and an assist, while freshman Brandon Morgan (Rochester, N.Y.) added two goals. Junior Bryan Parsons (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and senior Tyler Auricchio (Henderson, Nev.) each contributed a tally. Freshman Corey Schafer (Johnstown, Pa.), sophomore Conner Allison (Hillsboro, Ore.) and sophomore Corey Sherman (Hilton, N.Y.) each posted two assists.
The Hawks tallied the lone goal in the first period when Merrick skated down the right wing and delivered a cross-ice pass to a streaking Parsons weak side for the one-time tip past Wentworth netminder Joel Miller at the 3:09 mark for the 1-0 advantage after one frame.
Becker controlled the play in the second period notching three goals and pushing the lead to 4-0 after 40 minutes of play. The Hawks doubled the lead at the 4:13 mark of the second when Auricchio received a feed from teammate McKee, for his 9th goal of the season. Moments later Becker made the score 3-0 as McKee scored his first of the night. Morgan would round out the scoring for the Hawks with a nifty wrist shot off a drop pass from line mate Schafer at the top of the right face-off circle.
In the third period, Wentworth outscored the Hawks 3-2 with a valiant effort for a comeback. Becker would open the scoring with a power-play goal from McKee for the 5-0 advantage. However, the Leopards would break up the shutout with back-to-back goals from Mike Cox (Marlborough, Mass.) and Erik Andersson (Madison, N.J.) to cut the margin to 5-2. The teams would trade late goals for the 6-3 final.
Hawks goaltender Gregg Hussey (Medford, Mass.) would finish with 32 saves for his second win of the season. WIT goalie Joel Miller would make 16 saves in 36 minutes of play, sophomore Ryan Hubbard (Wext Roxbury, Mass.) posted 2 saves in relief.
The win gives the Ice Hawks their first sweep of Wentworth in program history.
The Hawks will close out the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Western New England University for a 1:40 p.m. tilt.
