Statistics
PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- The No.9 University of New England men's ice hockey squad tallied one goal in each period and got an 18-save shutout from
Joey Stanizzi to secure a 3-0 Conference of New England (CNE) victory over Johnson & Wales University (R.I.) at Lynch Arena on Friday night (Feb. 7).
Now with their third-longest winning streak in program history, at eight games, the Nor'easters boost their overall record to 15-5-1. At 11-3-0 in CNE play, UNE stays squarely between league-leader Curry College (37 points) and Endicott College (31) in the standings with four contests remaining.
The forwards line of
Nathan Chickering (2 goals, 1 assist),
Juraj Elias (1 goal, 2 assists), and
Jayden Price (2 assists) accounted for all the offensive production for the visitors, leaving Chickering and Elias with career high-tying point totals.
Elias opened the scoring a little before the midway mark of the 1st period, hammering a one-timer from the right dot past Jake Inzirillo for his fourth of the year. Chickering, on the right side of a 2-on-1 break with Price, padded the cushion just 78 seconds into the 2nd frame, and then pocketed another 5:25 into the 3rd by stuffing home a rebound at the right post.
Noah Szretter added an assist on the third goal, keeping play in the zone against the right wall before Elias sent a shot towards the target. Chickering is up to nine goals on the campaign, good for a share of third on the team.
Stanizzi notched his fourth shutout of the year and personally improved to 9-3-0 for the Nor'easters, who entered the day with the nation's 9th-ranked penalty kill (87.1%) and successfully extinguished all five chances by the opponents.
Kevin O'Keefe helped the defensive cause with a pair of blocked shots, and
Dylan Schuett paced a lopsided faceoff margin by claiming 10-of-11 draws.
Inzirillo wound up with 27 stops for the hosts. It was UNE's first meeting with JWU (9-10-2, 4-8-2 CNE) since 2018-19, which was one season removed from a brief two-year stint as a fellow member of the then Commonwealth Coast Conference.
The teams are slated to square off again on Saturday in Biddeford, with an adjusted start time of 5 p.m.
