SHELTON, Conn. – Four different players found the back of the net for Post University Men's Ice Hockey against Southern New Hampshire University on Friday afternoon at the Sports Center of Connecticut while junior goalie Benjamin Cunneen made 26 saves to propel the Eagles to their seventh conference win in their last eight games.  

The seventh win in conference play this season surpasses their previous season-best of six wins set during the 2021-22 season and snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Penmen dating back to the 2022-23 season. 

THE BASICS

Post University 5, Southern New Hampshire University 1 

Post University (9-10-0, 7-6-0 NE10)

Southern New Hampshire University (8-10-1, 7-5-1 NE10)

HOW IT HAPPENED
A pair of dump-in plays for the Eagles would be the reason why they scored two goals in the opening frame, breaking a scoreless stretch of 8 ½ periods without a goal against the Penmen which dated back to last season's Northeast-10 Tournament Quarterfinals when Patrick Murphy scored at the 10:20 mark of the first period. 

On a dump-off into the defensive end, freshman defenseman Aidan Canady pushed the puck ahead between the defense of the Penmen and hit freshman forward Holden Beckett in stride with nothing but sophomore goalie Colin Berke in his way who he beat on the breakaway only 3 ½ minutes in. Then it would be Beckett's turn to return the favor for junior forward Baxter Kimball who he located with space across the ice for the second goal of the period on the left of Berke. 

Cunneen, who got the start in net for the Eagles after getting the day off on Tuesday against Franklin Pierce University, stopped all nine shots he faced while the defense held the Penmen off the board during a power-play opportunity, blocking three shots in front of Cunneen. 

Adding to the lead in the second would be freshman forward Scotty Swain as his pass to the center of the zone was quickly returned to him from senior defenseman Trey Deloury with space to rifle it by sophomore goalie Sean Guerin, who started the second, making it a 3-0 game before the halfway point of the period. 

The Eagles would head into the third with a four-goal lead after senior defenseman Tommy Buis and junior forward Matteo Peca teamed up to get junior forward Joe Santoro the fourth goal of the contest while Cunneen maintained his shutout with eight more saves against the Penmen offense.

Both sides would net one more goal in the third period as sophomore forward Stone Devlin ended Post's hopes of getting their first shutout win in program history with his power-play goal with 6:30 left in regulation before Swain's second goal of the game on an empty netter with less than two minutes remaining helped seal Post's 5-1 victory over the Penmen on Friday afternoon at home. 

BY THE NUMBERS  

• Benjamin Cunneen picked up his eighth win of the season, moving to 8-4-0 overall which places him two wins away from tying Brandon Brown's single-season record of 10 wins set during the 2021-22 season 
• Scotty Swain finished the game with two goals bringing his season total to five goals on the year -- Swain has now scored in back-to-back games for the first time in his collegiate career 
• Post University snaps an eight-game losing streak against Southern New Hampshire University which dates back to the 2022-23 season – The last win came on January 20th, 2023 in a 6-5 win at home which was the second straight win for the Eagles against the Penmen
• With the win today, Post University now has seven conference wins this season which is their most for a single season in program history – The previous record was six conference wins in a season set during the 2021-22 campaign  

WHO'S NEXT
Post University closes out their home series against Southern New Hampshire University at 3:30 PM tomorrow afternoon at the Sports Center of Connecticut on Pink in the Rink Day in Shelton, Connecticut.