Box Score FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Senior Dane Caracino (Belmont, Mass.) notched two goals and two assists, but a five-goal third period lifted Stonehill College to an 8-5 victory over Southern New Hampshire University in Northeast-10 Conference ice hockey action at the Foxboro Sports Center on Saturday. The Skyhawks improve to 12-5-3 overall and 6-0-1 in league play, while the Penmen are now 9-11-1 and 3-7 in the NE-10.
Southern New Hampshire staked itself to a two-goal lead just over five minutes into the first period. Sophomore Michael Busconi (Watertown, Mass.) opened the scoring 5:24 into the opening frame when he blasted a slapshot from the neutral zone past the Stonehill netminder for his first of the season. Caracino doubled the Penmen lead 17 seconds later when he tallied his 10th of the year from sophomore Jay Sylvia (Acushnet, Mass.) and junior Joe Collins (Mansfield, Mass.)
After the Skyhawks trimmed the SNHU lead to one, Caracino reestablished a two-goal advantage with 6:42 to go in the period. Caracino found the back of the net on the powerplay for the seventh time this season, which moves him into a tie for second place in all of NCAA Division II and Division III ice hockey.
Stonehill again brought the score to within a goal at 3-2 when Kevin Airoldi scored his seventh at the 15:09 mark, before Sylvia put the Penmen ahead 4-2 with 3:35 left to play in the first.
The Skyhawks scored the lone goal of the second period with 3:23 remaining, as Travis Army struck on the powerplay for his fourth of the year. Army's goal sparked a six-goal run for Stonehill that turned a 4-2 Southern New Hampshire lead into an 8-4 Skyhawk advantage. Collins stopped the run with two minutes to play in the third off a feed from Caracino to cap the game's scoring.
Caracino led the Penmen with two goals and a pair of assists in the setback. Collins chipped in with a goal and two assists while Sylvia (1G-1A) and senior Bryan Wright (Reading, Mass.)(2A) added two points. Freshman Matthew MacInnis (Arlington, Texas) stopped 33 shots in goal for Southern New Hampshire.
Richard Harris (1G-2A) and Dan Graham (3A) each registered three-point nights, and Thomas DePoalo scored twice in the Stonehill victory. Patrick Farrington and Chris Tasiopoulos combined to make 23 saves between the pipes for the Skyhawks.
The teams combined for 17 penalties and 51 minutes of infractions. Stonehill finished the game 4-of-9 on the powerplay, while the Penmen converted 2-of-4 extra man opportunities.
Southern New Hampshire returns home on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. faceoff with Franklin Pierce University at the Ice Den. The Skyhawks also resume their schedule on Tuesday with a trip to Saint Anselm College at 7 p.m.
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
