KEENE, N.H. - Sophomore forwards
Francis Rose (Clarkston, Mich.) and
Scott McNulty (Williamstown, N.J.) each scored a goal and added an assist, the only offense the Western Connecticut State University men's hockey team could muster, as Keene State scored four times in the first period and downed the Wolves, 6-2, on Saturday afternoon's Little East Conference matchup.
The Owls took control early. Thor Hansen scored unassisted at 3:17, and Sean McBride made it 2-0 at 10:29. Peter Unger scored at 13:22, and Kyle Gonzalez scored on the power play with 4.3 seconds left in the period, six seconds after WestConn's Drew Coady (Braintree, Mass.) went to the box for high sticking. Sophomore goaltender Liam Lane (Castle Rock, Colo.) faced 16 shots in the period and made 12 saves for the visitors before sophomore goaltender Dylan Dewachter (London, Ontario) replaced him for the second.
Joe Fontaine made it 5-0 at 7:37 of the second period. WestConn answered on the power play at 12:34, 15 seconds after Tyler Palin was called for roughing. Rose scored off passes from junior defenseman Victor-Antoine Fortier (Sherbrooke, Quebec) and McNulty. Keene State's Michael Boschetto scored with 29 seconds left in the period to make it 6-1.
McNulty tickled the twine at 5:56 of the third period on a pass from Rose and senior forward Carson Holliday (Pipestone, Minn.) for the final tally. WestConn outshot Keene State 14-9 in the period. Dewachter finished with 11 saves, stopping 11 of the 13 shots he faced.
WestConn outshot Keene State 38-29 over the game, but Ben Skelton made 36 saves for the win. McNulty, Coady and freshman forward Lynden Donald-Gorman (Edmonton, Alberta) each tallied four shots, and Rose notched three. Holliday won 11-of-15 faceoffs, and the Wolves won 39 of 80 overall. WestConn went 1-for-7 on the power play, and Keene State went 1-for-5.
WestConn falls to 1-2-1 overall and 0-2-1 in Little East Conference play. Keene State improves to 1-3-1 and 1-2-0. The Wolves will look to rebound when they host New England College in an LEC contest on Friday at 4 p.m.
