WORCESTER, Mass. – When Post University Men's Ice Hockey needed a hero the most, they got one in junior forward Joe Santoro on Friday afternoon against Assumption University on the road. Trailing by a goal in the third period, Santoro tied the game up at one all, forcing overtime to help the Eagles complete the comeback against the Greyhounds with a 2-1 victory, inching them closer to the potential of a home game in the Northeast-10 Tournament in a couple of weeks. 

As it stands with the overtime win, the Greyhounds picked up a point which keeps them a point ahead of the Eagles at 25 points to Post's 24 points for fourth place while Saint Michael's College and Saint Anselm College face each other at 7:00 PM. The Purple Knights currently sit five points up on the Eagles while the Hawks are in first with a 14-point edge over the Eagles, putting them out of reach to catch. A win for Southern New Hampshire University put them at 30 points, six points ahead of Post for second place. 

THE BASICS

Post University 2, Assumption University 1 (OT)

Post University (10-13-0, 8-9-0 NE10)

Assumption University (11-16-0, 8-9-0 NE10)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Junior goalie Benjamin Cunneen and senior goalie Michael Hauswirth engaged in a duel of defense for their respective teams, a scoreless first period for both sides saw Cunneen have to make 16 saves while Hauswirth needed just eight for each goalie to escape with the game still knotted at zero. The Eagles and Greyhounds would both get one power-play chance in the first 20 minutes in which the Post had three shots while Assumption manufactured five shots on their opportunity as well as two during their penalty kill.

Breaking the seal on the tie in the second would be freshman defenseman Shane McElhaney just under eight minutes into the frame with the help of junior forward Thomas McGaffigan and freshman forward Declan Chapman which is where the score would reside when the clock hit zero. Facing his fewest shots all night, Cunneen stopped nine of a possible 10 shots while Hauswirth also faced his most shots all night in 13 from Post, turning away all of them to keep the Greyhounds ahead 1-0 heading into the third.

That would be when Santoro turned the clock back with junior forward Baxter Kimball, who were teammates at SUNY Fredonia, converting on a 2-on-1 chance just over the eight-minute mark to tie the game at one all and eventually send it to overtime after Cunneen staved off two power-play opportunities and made 19 saves.

Cunneen would finish the evening with 44 saves and his ninth win of the season, moving within one win of tying the 2021-22 single-season record set by Brandon Brown as Santoro would go on to net the game-winning goal. A hooking penalty by sophomore forward Jonathan Surrette at the end of regulation gave the Eagles the chance in the five-minute, sudden-death overtime they would need playing 4-on-3 for the first 1:56. 

Wasting no time, senior defenseman Tommy Buis found Kimball on the right side of the goal mouth and his initial shot would be stopped by Hauswirth. But the deflected puck went right to a wide-open Santoro on the left side who buried his second goal of the night and sixth goal of the season to give the Eagles the 2-1 win on the only shot for either time in the extra session. 

BY THE NUMBERS  

• With six goals on the season, Joe Santoro has two multi-goal games after tonight's two-game performance with the other coming in a 3-2 overtime victory against Westfield State University at home on November 12th 
• Beating Assumption University for the third time this season, this is the first time in program history in which Post University has beaten the Greyhounds three times in a single season -- The Eagles entered the season 2-20-1 in the all-time series against Assumption before their three wins this season 
• Now at eight conference wins, Post University has set a new single-season record for most conference wins in program history, surpassing their seven wins in conference play during the 2021-22 season when they finished 7-9-1 and made it to the NE10 Championship Game
• Benjamin Cunneen now has nine wins in net this season and a 9-6-0 record overall -- Cunneen is one win away from tying the single-season record set by Brandon Brown during the 2021-22 season in which he had 10 wins 
• After finishing 3-for-6 last weekend on the penalty kill against Saint Anselm College, Post University finished a perfect 5-for-5 in this afternoon's game against Assumption University -- The clean game snapped a four-game streak in which the Eagles had allowed their opponent to score on the power play 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University was supposed to close out their four-game road trip against Assumption University tomorrow night at 7:00 PM in Worcester, Massachusetts before returning home for Senior Day next Friday against Franklin Pierce University. However, due to the incoming winter storm on Saturday night, that game has been postponed for a date and time to be announced. Check the posteagles.com website for schedule updates and announcements.