Sophomore Johan Granath scored two goals and dished out two assists in NEC's 5-3 win over Hamilton on Friday.
Men's Ice Hockey tops NESCAC opponent Hamilton
New England College’s Johan Granath (Stockholm, Sweden) netted two goals and dished out two assists to lead the Pilgrims past the visiting Hamilton College Continentals 5-3 Friday evening. With the win NEC improves to 14-7-1 overall, while the loss drops Hamilton to 8-12-1 on the season.
Hamilton wouldn’t waste much time getting on the board as Kevin Osborne (Peabody, Mass.) would score assisted by Rob Gannon (Saugus, Mass.) and Joe Buicko (Altamont, N.Y.) just 1:03 into the opening period. NEC would knot the game at 1-1 midway through the opening period as Mark Ehl (N. Vancouver, B.C.) would score his ninth goal of the season assisted by Granath and Dylan Exton (Calgary, Alberta) at the 10:41 mark.
Hamilton would regain their one goal lead as Chris Lorenc (Clifton, N.J.) would covert on a Continental power-play opportunity just 2:47 into the second period. The NEC offense would remain quiet throughout much of the second before Olli Kalliosaari (Hattula, Finland) would rebound in a Granath shot at the 17:44 mark tying the game at 2-2. The Pilgrims would storm back just one minute later as Granath would net an NEC power-play goal and give the Pilgrims their first lead of the game up 3-2 heading into the final period.
NEC would extend their lead to 4-2 at the 11:10 mark in the third period as Granath would net his second goal of the game assisted by Emil Alengard (Likoping, Sweden) and Kalliosaari. The Continentals would not give up as they would pull their goalie while on a power-play and reap the benefits as Tom Chiapeeta (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) would score, cutting the NEC lead to 4-3. The Pilgrims would get the goal back just under a minute later as Kalliosaari would score his second goal of the game giving NEC the 5-3 lead with five minutes remaining in regulation. Hamilton would have several opportunities late but NEC goalie Aaron Harvey (Milford, N.S.) would record 22 third period saves solidifying the 5-3 Pilgrim victory.
NEC’s Olli Kalliosaari finished with two goals and an assist. Hamilton College’s Tom Chiappetta and Chris Lorenc each scored a goal and had an assist on the evening.
Picking up the win in net for the Pilgrims was Aaron Harvey who finished with 40 saves. In net for Hamilton was Mark Donovan (Pembroke, Mass.) who recorded 20 saves on the
