Statistics

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. -- Dominic Murphy and Ryan Kuzmich tallied 1st-period goals for the No.11 University of New England men's ice hockey team that proved to be enough for a 2-1 triumph over Nichols College in a Conference of New England (CNE) faceoff on Saturday (Feb. 1) at Levy Rink.

Less than 24 hours after the Nor'easters blitzed the Bison with three strikes during the initial moments of the contest, Murphy put the visitors in front with just 2:57 gone. On the advantage, Chip Hamlett passed it to the right point for Juraj Elias, who delivered a cross-ice feed to Murphy, who whipped a shot from the left dot into the near-side top corner. Murphy (13 goals) -- now with at least a point in seven straight games -- has piled up seven of his goals during the power play, good for third in the country.

The lead was short-lived, though, as Nichols responded 33 seconds later with a score by Dylan Ray.

But with under seven minutes to play in the opening frame, skating with another 5-on-4, Ryan Kuzmich continued his hot streak by stuffing one in at the right post for the ultimate edge on the scoreboard (2-1). Hamlett cued up this play, too, pausing at the point for an opening to hit the tape of Drew Olivieri in the slot. Olivieri's redirection got the left pad of Bison goalie Liam Choquette, but Kuzmich immediately punched the rebound home. Kuzmich (16 goals), who started the afternoon ranked fifth in Division III for goals per game, now has a marker in five consecutive matches and a total of 11 during the past nine dates. While Kuzmich has at least one point in the last nine, Olivieri has contributed something in each of the last seven. Olivieri (19 assists) began Saturday ranked sixth in helpers per game.

Add two more power play goals and the Nor'easters have converted 11 of their past 22 chances, elevating what was a 20.5 success rate six games ago to 31.1 percent -- sixth-best in the nation heading into the day.

UNE (14-5-1, 10-3-0 CNE) is up to seven victories in-a-row, of which Stefan Carney has backstopped four. Carney needed to make just 13 saves to improve his personal record to 6-2-1. Noah Szretter shared the game-high of three blocked shots to aid the defensive effort.

Olivieri, Dylan Schuett, and Elias combined to claim 27 faceoffs for the visitors, who now stand second in the league with 31 points -- between Curry College (34) and Endicott College (28).

Choquette totaled 34 saves for Nichols (8-10-2, 4-7-2).

The Nor'easters start a weekend series with Johnson & Wales University down in Rhode Island on Friday.