Hartford, Conn. – Junior forward Chris Menard (Burlington, Mass.) notched a hat trick plus an assist to lead the Trinity College Bantams to an 8-3 victory over the visiting Nichols College Bison in  men's ice hockey action this afternoon at Williams Rink in the Koeppel Community Sports Center.  The Bantams improve to 3-5, snapping a two-game losing streak, while Nichols falls to 2-8-1. 

Trinity put three first-period goals past Nichols sophomore backup goalie Dylan Woodring (Rogue River, Oregon), who replaced Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) early in the game due to an illness.  Menard netted the first goal 4:24 into the contest from classmate Sabastion Kimmel (Chico, Calif.) and twin brother Jeff Menard (Burlington, Mass.).  Nichols sophomore forward Greg Strootman (Aston, Pa.) got the visitors on the board with 11:58 left in the first frame, but senior forward Sean McCarthy (Duxbury, Mass.) gave the Bantams a 2-1 lead 1:15 later on a rebound off the initial shot by junior defenseman Michael DiCenso (Greenville, R.I.) and Trinity led the rest of the way.  Bantam senior co-captain blueliner Michael DeMayo (Seaford, N.Y.) scored the next two goals, and Chris Menard scored twice in a 12-second span late in the second stanza for a 6-1 Bantam lead at the second intermission. 

McCarthy added a pair of helpers for the Trinity offense, while junior forward Zach Lombardi (Locust Valley, N.Y.) had one goal and one assist, and sophomore forward Will Gray (Wellesley, Mass.) assisted on two Bantam scores.  Freshman forward Mike Schiavone (Chicago, Ill.) netted the other Bison goal, while Woodring made 27 of Nichols' 32 saves among three different backstops.  Trinity rookie netminder Kevin Green (Weymouth, Mass.) shined in his collegiate debut, making 35 stops over 60 minutes.