1/6/2010 10:43:30 PM
Henniker, N.H. – Mark Ehl (North Vancouver, British Columbia) scored twice and dished out an assist for New England College, leading the Pilgrims to a 5-2 win over the visiting Vikings of Salem State College. With the win, the Pilgrims better their record to 5-4-1, while the loss drops the Vikings to 6-4-1.
NEC would get on the board first six minutes into the game as Alex Muse (Lynnfield, Mass.) notched his sixth goal of the season on assists from Trevor Turner (Westbank, British Columbia) and Jarkko Leppanen (Tampere, Finland). The Pilgrims would strike again at 14:21 as Geoff Shewmake (Chicago, Ill.) connected on assists from Niko Uola (Turku, Finland) and Leppanen. The Pilgrims would carry the 2-0 lead into the second period.
Salem State would notch their first goal of the game 5:47 into the second period on a power play goal by Chris MacInnis (Waltham, Mass.). Brent Noll (Sandwich, Mass.) and Damen Nisula (Gardener, Mass.) would assist on the goal. NEC would answer with back-to-back goals, coming at the 16:54 and 18:15 marks. Ehl would score on assists by Turner and Emil Alengard (Linkoping, Sweden), followed by a goal by Turner, assisted by Alengard and Ehl. The Pilgrims would carry the 4-1 advantage into the third period.
Salem State would notch their final goal of the game with just under eight minutes to play as Dan Smolinsky (Plymouth, Mass.) connected on passes from Matt Genovese (Hingham, Mass.) and Nisula. The Vikings would pull their goalie in the final minute, allowing the Pilgrims to net an empty net goal. Ehl would record the goal, with Muse and Filip Bjork (Stockholm, Sweeden) assisting.
Picking up the win in net for the Pilgrims was Aaron Harvey (Milford, Nova Scotia) who notched 18 saves. In net for the Vikings was Jacob Ridgeway (Franklin, Mass.), who also recorded 18 saves. The Pilgrims were 3-4 on power play opportunities.
NEC will be back in action on Friday, January 8 hosting the University of New England for a 7:30 p.m. ECAC East matchup. Salem State is idle until January 14, when they travel to UMass Dartmouth for a 7:30 p.m. start.