Even with a new coach, it took Salve Regina very little time to make an early season statement. The Seawolves opened their season by hitting the road and snapping the 25-game unbeaten streak that had been crafted by last year’s Division 3 champion, Norwich. The 3-2 win also snapped the Cadets’ 22-game unbeaten streak at...
Even with a new coach, it took Salve Regina very little time to make an early season statement.
The Seawolves opened their season by hitting the road and snapping the 25-game unbeaten streak that had been crafted by last year’s Division 3 champion, Norwich. The 3-2 win also snapped the Cadets’ 22-game unbeaten streak at Kreitzberg Arena.
In the first meeting between the programs, Jack Billings, Evan Schmidbauer and Danny Eruzione (Winthrop, Mass.) each scored goals for the Seahawks, who led 3-0 early in the third period after Eruzione scored and then hung on for dear life, while Blake Wojtala made 37 saves.
Salve’s first month under new coach Zech Klann proved that opening-night result was no fluke. Behind guys like Billings, a sophomore whose nine goals in late November tied him for the national lead, the Seahawks got off to a 6-1 start, which included a home-and-home sweep of the University of New England, with Wojtala making a career-high 61 saves in the 6-4 win that closed it. …
Defending champ Norwich was stung twice in the opening month, getting off to a 4-2-1 start. The Cadets also fell to league rival New England College, 4-3, despite carrying play and finishing with a 42-22 edge in shots. Senior Kevin Salvucci (Plymouth, Mass.) has paced them with nine points in the first seven games. …
No team provided more opening-weekend fireworks in the NESCAC than Colby, which pumped in 11 goals in splitting a pair on the road at Middlebury (9-1 win) and Williams (3-2 loss). Senior Mario Benicky and sophomore J.P. Schuhlen (Longmeadow, Mass.) each scored three times on the weekend. The White Mules won’t play outside the state of Maine again until the new year. …
Trinity, national runner-up to Norwich last year, locked down a pair of opponents to wins its first two NESCAC games. Goalie Alex Morin stopped 36 of 38 shots as his team took wins from Tufts (5-1) and Conn. College (2-1). The Bantams’ schedule gets stiffer in December, with three of their four games against ranked opponents. …
Plymouth State got a measure of revenge on recent playoff nemesis Salem State, taking a 5-4 overtime win in front of nearly 1,000 fans at its home rink. Quinn Carroll (Amherst, N.H.) scored twice during regulation and Alec LeFave (Hudson, N.H.) sent the fans home happy with his OT strike, the fourth win in a row for the Panthers (5-1).
