Statistics
.
BIDDEFORD, Maine – Down 2-0 midway through the second period, the Nichols College men's ice hockey team scored four straight power-play goals on its way to a 5-3 victory over #6 University of New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Harold Alfond Forum on Saturday night.
 
The game looked to be all Nor'easters in the early going as the hosts outshot Nichols 20-4 in the first period. Stellar goaltending by Matt Efros kept it scoreless through a period.
 
Two minutes into the second, Brett Mecrones put it past Efros to give UNE (14-4-3, 10-2-2 CCC) the lead [Watch]. Austin Morgan and Ryan Burr assisted on the goal. Morgan weaved his way through the defense and scored with 9:05 left in the period to extend the advantage to 2-0.
 
Nichols (8-11-2, 5-7-1 CCC) took control from there with back-to-back power-play goals by J.B. Baker within a span of just 2:09 to tie the game. Justin Perron and Hogan Davidson helped on both scores. Filip Virgili put in his first of two with 28 seconds remaining the period as the Bison led 3-2 through two.
 
Vigili added his second power-play goal of the night with 11:38 to play in regulation, extending the advantage to 4-2. UNE pulled its goaltender and Chris Jones put one in to cut the deficit to one with 1:39 remaining, but an empty net score by Petr Miko ended the comeback bid. [Watch]
 
After the lopsided opening period, Nichols outshot UNE 36-22 the rest of the way, but trailed 42-40 overall. Efros made 39 stops to earn the victory. Ben Churchfield had 35 saves in the loss.
 
The Nor'easters visit Western New England on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.