WORCESTER, Mass. – After incoming snow put a damper on the final game between Post University Men's Ice Hockey and Assumption University on Saturday evening, the pivotal rescheduled game took place on Tuesday afternoon up in Marlborough, Massachusetts with the Eagles vying for a chance at a home game in the Northeast-10 Tournament next week. 

Two-point games from senior defenseman John Woernle and sophomore forward Jonathan Surrette would be enough for the Greyhounds to come away with that final game, avoiding the season sweep against the Eagles, downing them by a 3-1 final score. Freshman forward Bradley McMains netted his second goal of the season in the second period to briefly cut the lead in half, but Post would be unable to complete the comeback putting their hopes of a home playoff game in peril with two games left.

THE BASICS

Post University 2, Assumption University 1 (OT)

Post University (10-14-0, 8-10-0 NE10)

Assumption University (12-16-0, 9-9-0 NE10)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Dropping the game 3-1, the Eagles now will need some help to move up to the fourth seed in the Northeast-10 Conference standings as they currently trail the Greyhounds, who they own the season-series tiebreaker against by a 3-1-0 margin, by four points with two games remaining. Post takes on last-place Franklin Pierce University for their final two matchups. At the same time, Assumption will face third-place Saint Michael's College which is looking to potentially move into second place while staving off the Greyhounds who are right behind them two points off the pace. 

The Eagles will need to at least earn four points against the Ravens and if that happens hope Assumption loses their final two games in regulation as an overtime loss would give the Greyhounds one point. If Post were to sweep the weekend series, they would need Assumption to earn no more than four points through their combination of two games against the Purple Knights, but could also leap Saint Michael's should the Greyhounds sweep them and Post sweeps Franklin Pierce. 

Junior goalie Benjamin Cunneen made 28 saves on 30 attempts in net for the Eagles while graduate goalie Thomas McLarnon had a near-perfect performance for Assumption with 45 saves on 46 attempts by Post. Cunneen's first blemish came with under a minute to go in the first period when a deflection by junior forward Jake DiNapoli off a shot from Woernle made its way into the net to give Assumption their one-goal lead.

Woernle would help extend that edge to two goals on the power play when he helped out senior forward Ronny Paragallo in the second, the Greyhounds finished the game going 1-for-4 on the power play with all four coming in the first two periods while the Eagles were 0-for-2 on the day. McMains' goal came just 1:19 into the third period, renewing hopes for a Post comeback in the final frame which were dashed by a 19-save frame by McLarnon. 

With Cunneen pulled from the net with just under 2 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation, sophomore forward Jonathan Surrette scored on the empty net which was nearly stopped by junior forward Jacob Howell before going in, giving the Greyhounds the insurance they needed for the 3-1 win. 

BY THE NUMBERS  

• After not scoring in his first eight collegiate games, Bradley McMains has scored in two of the last four games for Post University, last doing so against Saint Anselm College on the road two weeks ago 
• Thomas McLarnon earned his fifth win of the season after making 45 saves on 46 attempts against Post University this afternoon -- That is the second-most saves McLarnon has had in a game this season after making 53 saves in a 10-1 loss against LIU in January 
• Benjamin Cunneen remains one win away from tying the single-season win record set by Brandon Brown during the 2021-22 season at 10 wins -- Cunneen currently holds a 9-7-0 record in goal this year 
• This is the first time this season in which Post University has lost to Assumption University, winning the first three matchups of the season after losing the previous 11 of 12 games while tying the other one 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University closes its home schedule on Friday afternoon with Senior Day against Franklin Pierce University at the Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton, Connecticut at 4:00 PM. The Eagles swept the Ravens in their two matchups earlier this season during their home-and-home series with a 4-3 win in Winchendon, Massachusetts before winning 3-1 at home a week later.