Men’s ice hockey hung their skates up for the season
The Keene State men’s club ice hockey team lost to Bentley University in the finals of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division II Northeast Regional Hockey Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 27.
The tournament was hosted at Keene Ice, from Friday, Feb. 25 to Sunday, Feb. 27. Twelve of the top teams in the ACHA Northeast Region participated, with the goal of heading to the ACHA National Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri.
Bentley scored four consecutive goals, with two in the first period and another two in the second. Scoring finally opened for the Owls late in the second period by forward Callan Thompson, assisted by forward Ryan Tobeler.
The Owls scored again in the beginning of the third with a goal from defenseman Zac Rheault, assisted by forward Douglas Newton. This would mark Newton’s fourth assist in the tournament.
The team struggled on the power play, going 0-for-8, and their third-period rally fell short, effectively sending Bentley to Nationals.
The Owls advanced to the finals after beating Clarkson University in the semi-finals on Saturday, Feb. 26, 7-2.
Forward Jack Tedone opened the scoring at 12:47 of the first, with an assist by forward Dillon Mensing. 10 seconds later, forward Andrew Lusignan netted his first goal of the game, assisted by forwards Joe Nutting and Tyler Adkins, putting the Owls up by two. Two more goals were scored in the first period by Newton, unassisted, and Lusignan, assisted by Nutting and Newton on a power play.
Lusignan scored his third goal of the game early in the second period on a power play, assisted by Newton and forward Nick Feliciano. The Owls scored again on a power play in the second, with a goal from Nutting assisted by Newton.
Clarkson scored their first goal on power play in the second period, and followed up with their second goal on a power play early in the third, but they were unable to equalize.
Defenseman John Holleran scored shorthanded in the middle of the third period to seal the deal.
Goaltender Will Slohm made 31 saves on 33 shots.
During the regular season, the team went 15-5-1-1 (22 GP) and were 41st in ACHA Men’s Division II.
The Owls will be back in the rink in the fall.
Kayla Barrett can be contacted
at kbarrett@kscequinox.com
