AUBURN, Mass. – A rare midweek game now that the conference schedule has been well underway for Post University Men's Ice Hockey looked to bring about a different result with the third game of a road trip finding the Eagles at Anna Maria College on Tuesday evening. After falling behind early on, a wild second period full of crazy caroms and six combined goals looked to give Post a chance at their first road win of the season before the AmCats closed out the third with an insurance goal to hand Post the 5-3 defeat.

THE BASICS

Post University 3, Anna Maria College 5

Post University (3-20-1)

Anna Maria College (15-9-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior defenseman Samson Mouland got Anna Maria on the scoreboard in the first period with a power-play goal, the 27^th man-up goal that the Eagles have given up this season. Sophomore defenseman Pearce Baker located sophomore forward Braeden McKinnon near the right circle and he would thread the pass between a couple Post defenders to Mouland for the one-timer that put the AmCats ahead by one. Outside of that converted power-play, the rest of the period was near-even with Anna Maria leading 10-9 in shots on goal and holding only a 15-12 edge in faceoffs won. Junior goalie Drew Blodgett and sophomore goalie Cole Johnston each made nine saves apiece for their respective teams.

A high-scoring second saw both teams score three goals each while Anna Maria responded each time Post would put one in the net. Sophomore forward Brandon Della Paolera would convert on a penalty shot opportunity for the AmCats to start the second before a wraparound shot under three minutes later by senior forward Connor Barter surprised Johnston in net to cut the Eagle deficit in half, 2-1.

Under a minute later, Anna Maria answered back when senior forward Guillaume Coulombe used some fancy stick work to dance around the Post defense and backhand a shot past Blodgett to regain the two-goal lead. Graduate forward Jack Engdahl would have the response this time around on the first power-play goal in the last five games for the Eagles after he tipped the shot by junior forward Patrick Murphy who received a pass from junior defenseman Tommy Buis.

Two more goals would be scored within the final minute of the period, first by McKinnon on the redirect from Della Paolera's attempted cross pass into the zone. With 9.6 seconds left, senior forward Michael Gethings scored on a wacky goal that went off an AmCat player in front of the net and caromed by Johnston for the score, sending the game into the third period with a narrow 4-3 lead by Anna Maria.

A calm third period would see the Eagles unable to find the equalizer while Coulombe's second goal of the game, this time from graduate defenseman and junior defenseman Derek Raposo on the power-play, extended the AmCat lead to two goals where it would remain the rest of the way. Blodgett would finish with 32 saves for Post in the 5-3 loss while Johnston earned the win in net for Anna Maria after making 33 saves on 36 attempts.

BY THE NUMBERS   

• With his assist on the Jack Engdahl goal, Patrick Murphy now seven goals and five assists on the season, putting him one point behind Engdahl for the team lead in points at 12
• The Post University penalty kill has now allowed a goal in 19 of their 24 games this season and multiple power-play goals in seven games
• Scoring on the power-play in the second period Post University snapped a streak of four straight games without a power-play goal and an 0-for-17 stretch on the man-up over the last five games
• Post University remains winless on the road this season as they fall to 0-12-1 away from the Sports Center of Connecticut – Their last road win came on January 27^th, 2023 in a 4-2 victory over Saint Anselm College

 
WHO'S NEXT 
Entering the last leg of their five-game road trip, Post University travels north to face Franklin Pierce University in a pair of conference games next weekend starting with a Friday night matchup at 6:30 PM. Both teams have played each other close so far this season with the Ravens overcoming a 2-0 deficit to beat the Eagles in a neutral site game earlier this season which was only the beginning. In their two conference games in Shelton, Connecticut, Post overcame a 3-0 deficit to win 5-4 in the first game before being shutout 2-0 the next day by Franklin Pierce.