FAIRFIELD, Conn. – There is a first time for everything and for Post University Men's Ice Hockey, it was their first time playing at the Martire Family Arena on the campus of Sacred Heart University on Wednesday night against Assumption University. While the Women's Ice Hockey team has had a chance to indulge in the new arena's glory, that is because the Pioneers are in their conference, for the men who play in the Northeast-10, this was something special.
After snow back on January 6th forced the matchup against the Greyhounds to be moved to tonight, the venue was also changed for the Eagles as they looked to get off a five-game losing skid against the best in the conference. In a dogfight until the very end Post nearly overcame a three-goal deficit in the third period, but fell just short and dropped their sixth straight game, 5-4.
THE BASICS
Post University 4, Assumption University 5
Post University (2-16-1, 1-12-1 NE10)
Assumption University (16-4-0, 11-2-0 NE10)
HOW IT HAPPENED
A stoppage-heavy first period would see 31 combined faceoffs between both teams in which the Eagles would hold a commanding 22-9 advantage in that category but after 20 minutes would find themselves down 1-0 despite trailing slightly in shots on goal, 15-11. After an initial shot by senior forward Matt Keohane was saved by sophomore goalie Benjamin Cunneen, the deflection off his pad would go to freshman forward Daniel Lemanski who found senior forward William Roberts for the left side shot that he would bury less than seven minutes into the period.
Although Post would have their opportunities, they would be stopped by junior goalie Michael Hauswirth while the Eagle penalty kill would have a perfect 2-for-2 opening period to limit the damage done on the scoreboard.
Just 10 seconds after going onto the man-up advantage in the second, a turnover in the offensive zone would lead to a breakaway chance for junior forward Ronny Paragallo. Paragallo would get taken down by sophomore defenseman Ryan Cardow near the net, leading to a penalty shot for the junior who converted against Cunneen only 1:59 into the frame, extending the Greyhounds lead to two goals.
Moments later at the 15-minute mark, senior center Ryan Mosher would have a breakaway chance while Post was shorthanded, but he would be stopped by Hauswirth. But redemption would come for the Eagles on another power-play chance with 12:20 remaining in the frame. Freshman defenseman Cameron Craig would fire the puck in front of Hauswirth and it would be batted down by freshman forward Parker Norling before finding the stick of junior forward Patrick Murphy for his team-leading sixth goal to cut the deficit in half.
However, the Greyhounds responded with a power-play goal of their own when junior defenseman John Woernle hit Paragallo near the right circle. Pushing the puck towards the net, it would carom off the stick of senior forward Dara Conneely and squirt passed Cunneen to re-up the lead back to two, 3-1.
Inside of the final 1:30 of the period, both teams would exchange a goal apiece during an Assumption power play first on a dump-in by graduate forward Jack Engdahl which a racing Mosher picked up and flicked past Hauswirth. Only 30 seconds later while the Greyhounds still had the advantage, junior defenseman Sean Corliss would go coast-to-coast around the Post defense and go top shelf on Cunneen to send Assumption into the third up a pair of goals, 4-2.
Freshman forward Leo Piandes would cushion the lead for the Greyhounds with the third power-play goal of the night for Assumption from sophomore forward Jake LaVoie which made it a 5-2 game. The Eagles would have a golden opportunity to get themselves back into the game with a 5-on-3 power-play but nothing would come from it. However, just after both power plays had expired, sophomore forward Jake Aloi wheeled around the right circle after senior forward Michael Gethings and Craig teamed up on the passes with just over six minutes remaining in regulation.
Aloi's goal tied him back up with Murphy for the team lead in goals at six and cut the Post deficit to two goals, 5-3. But Murphy quickly took that goal lead back with less than two minutes to go and Cunneen pulled in net. The junior would take junior defenseman Tommy Buis' pass up the left side of the ice and rifle it from near the end line into the top of the net to bring Post within a goal.
With a 6-on-5 advantage, a perfect pass to the left side of the goal mouth seemed to set up Norling for the game-tying goal, but it would be stopped by the left pad of Hauswirth to help the Greyhounds hold on for the 5-4 win.
BY THE NUMBERS
- With 34 saves in the game, Michael Hauswirth picked up his first win of the season for Assumption University – This is Hauswirth's first win of the season and the fourth in three years with Assumption
- Holding a substantial edge in the faceoff category, Post University won 53-of-87 faceoffs against Assumption – 22 of those wins came in the first period
- For the second time this season, Post University registered a power-play goal in back-to-back games after scoring one in their last game against Southern New Hampshire – The Eagles last did this against Saint Anselm and Assumption on the road on November 4th and November 17th, 2023 when they scored three man-up goals against the Hawks and one against the Greyhounds
- Post University has now lost six straight games against Assumption and are now 0-11-1 in their last 12 games against the Greyhounds – The last win for the Eagles in the head-to-head came back on November 6th, 2021 on the road, 5-4
WHO'S NEXT
Post University gets a day off before picking up play with a couple more conference matchups on Friday and Saturday against Saint Anselm College at home. The two teams tied their first game this season 2-2 before the Hawks won decisively, 6-3, in the second game of that weekend. Although 2-14-1 overall against Saint Anselm, the Eagles are 2-3-1 in the last six matchups.
