FALL RIVER, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Men's Ice Hockey team saw Daxton St. Hilaire (Lewiston, Maine) bury the three-on-three winner in overtime, as the Hawks took down Wentworth, 5-4, to earn the program's first-ever Conference of New England (CNE) victory on Saturday at Driscoll Arena.
Wentworth saw 10 players record a point in the loss, with Nikolas Sombrowski going 12-for-18 in faceoffs with one block and a goal off four shots. Jack McGovern made 34 saves in the game for the Leopards, including 15 in the second period, while the Hawks scored five times on their final nine attempts.
For Roger Williams, Gabe Reis (Tenafly, N.J.) went 10-for-21 in faceoffs, while Daxton St. Hilaire also had 10 wins while dropping 15. TJ Sullivan (Melrose, Mass.) had seven wins on 12 attempts, while Jacob Kettwig (Chicago, Ill.) pulled in six wins. Defensively, Brady O'Connor (Woburn, Mass.), Cooper St. Hilaire (Lewiston, Maine), and Tyler Branish (Castle Pines, Colo.) each had two blocks, with Jacob Jaslow (Tomkins Cove, N.Y.) backstopping the Hawks allowing four goals with 29 saves.
The Leopards jumped out to the lead in the opening period, with Sombrowski scoring on a power play with 3:49 remaining in the period, taking a 1-0 lead into the break. The Leopards then erupted in the second period, tallying three goals after being outshot 15-14 by RWU.
Nolan Pecora scored his first collegiate goal, setting up a 2-0 advantage, before Xavier Vaillancourt added a goal 1:02 later. With 3.6 seconds remaining in the period, Nicholas Ramm scored with help of Mighton Johnson and Desmond Johnson, taking a 4-0 lead heading into the final frame.
In the third period, the Hawks were held off the board until 9:10 into the period, when Sullivan fired a shot into the back of the net after helpers by Tommy Rose (Westford, Mass.) and Cooper St. Hilaire on a power play. At the 12:40 and 12:45 marks of the third period, the Leopards saw back-to-back power plays in the period that the Hawks took advantage of. Eight seconds into the power play, the Hawks saw a goal come from Nicholas Rooney (Tampa, Fla.) when Colin Kwak (Alpharetta, Ga.) sent a pass over to Rooney, who was able to finish to pull within two.
Just under 30 seconds later, the Hawks were able to tally another goal, as Rose tallied the first goal of his collegiate career, with Christian Worrell (Boise, Idaho) and Reis connecting with the assists. With just over a minute remaining in regulation, St. Hilaire won his faceoff sending it out to Sullivan, who collected after canceling sticks and making a play. Sullivan then sent a puck in that JJ Alger (Brewster, Mass.) was able to finish to level the score with the extra attacker.
In overtime, the Hawks saw St. Hilaire score in the three-on-three period at 2:39, as Worrell and Branish assisted the game-winner.
"This was one of the wildest games I've ever been a part of," said Head Coach Chris Hall. "We played one of our better periods of the year in the second and walked back into the locker room down, 4-0.
"Then to have the mental strength and self-belief to climb back into the game showed maturity with a young team full of first-years. We learned a valuable lesson tonight. Always compete. The outcome is certain if you quit, but if you give it everything you always have a chance."
Roger Williams (2-5-0, 1-5-0 CNE) will travel to Western Connecticut State on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 5:00 pm before hosting Western New England on Friday, Dec. 5 at 5:00 pm.
