Box Score WORCESTER, Mass. – Sophomore Jay Sylvia (Acushnet, Mass.) recorded his first career hat trick, and the Southern New Hampshire University ice hockey team skated to a 4-2 victory over Assumption College in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Charles J. Buffone Ice Arena Saturday evening. The Penmen improve to 9-9-1 and 3-5 in conference play, while the Greyhounds fall to 7-13 overall and 3-5 in the league.
Freshman Matthew MacInnis (Arlington, Texas) stopped 37 shots between the pipes for Southern New Hampshire, marking the sixth time the rookie netminder has registered 30 saves in a game this season.
Junior Joe Collins (Mansfield, Mass.) tallied four points on a goal and three assists to extend his point-scoring streak to eight games, and senior Dane Caracino (Belmont, Mass.) recorded three assists in the win.
Southern New Hampshire captured the season series with Assumption for the second year in a row and in the process, picked up two points in the Northeast-10 standings. The Penmen also extended their road unbeaten streak to five games.
Sylvia gave Southern New Hampshire an early lead with a natural hat trick less than nine minutes into the first period. The Penmen broke the scoreless deadlock when Collins found Sylvia at the top of the rightwing faceoff circle, and the sophomore ripped a shot past the Assumption goaltender 2:36 into the contest.
Sylvia struck again just over three minutes later with his seventh of the season from Collins and Caracino, before he corralled a rebound in the slot and found the back of the net to make it 3-0 with 11:07 to go in the first. Assumption trimmed the Southern New Hampshire lead to a pair 2:10 later, as Thomas Mahoney batted a puck of out mid-air to send the teams to intermission with the score 3-1 in favor of the Penmen.
The Greyhounds closed the gap to a single goal midway through the second when Brennan Shaw collected his fourth of the season 10:44 into the period. Southern New Hampshire answered 1:46 later when Collins potted his 10th of the season on the powerplay. Senior Bryan Wright (Reading, Mass.) found Collins at the top of the rightwing faceoff circle, and the junior blasted a shot past Chris Hemhauser to reestablish a two-goal edge at 4-2.
The Penmen finished the game 3-for-5 on the powerplay, while Assumption converted on one of its four extra-man opportunities. The Greyhounds also held a 39-20 edge in shots.
Southern New Hampshire is back in action on Tuesday when it hosts Saint Anselm College at the Ice Den for a Northeast-10 and Queen City Cup tilt at 7 p.m. Assumption resumes its schedule on Wednesday as it heads to Stonehill College for a 7 p.m. puck drop against the Skyhawks.
Don't miss Penmen ice hockey at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday, February 14 at 6:30 p.m. For tickets click here. For the latest on Southern New Hampshire University athletics, follow the Penmen via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram. Sign up to receive text message alerts and email newsletters about your favorite Penmen teams here:http://www.snhupenmen.com/list-signup
