Middletown, Conn. - Sophomore Nik Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass.)
registered a goal and an assist and junior netminder Glenn Stowell
(Hadley, Mass.) made 23 saves to lead the Wesleyan University
Cardinals to a 3-1 men's ice hockey victory over the visiting
Trinity College Bantams this afternoon in the regular-season finale
for both teams. Trinity moves to 9-12-2 overall and 6-10-2 in the
NESCAC, and will be the No. 7 seed in the conference
tournament with its 12th consecutive league tournament bid.
The Bantams will visit No. 14-ranked Bowdoin in the NESCAC
Quarterfinals next Saturday. Wesleyan improves to 12-10-2
overall and 7-9-2 in the NESCAC and clinches the No.
6 seed in the tourney. The Cardinals will travel to
Middlebury for a quarterfinal contest.
All four goals in the game were scored in the second period.
Senior Tom Salah (Gloucester, Mass.) opened the scoring with just
over six minutes gone in the period. Sophomore Keith Buehler
(Skaneateles, N.Y.) launched a shot that hit the stick of Trinity
sophomore netminder Benjamin Coulthard (South Windsor, Conn.), then
deflected off Salah, who was standing to the right of the crease,
and in at 6:06. Tasiopoulos made it a 2-0 game at 8:43. With
the Cardinals skating five-on-three, Tasiopoulos launched a
one-timer through traffic on the left side for his team-high 18th
goal.
Trinity halved its deficit at the 15:36 mark courtesy of
sophomore defenseman Larry Bero (Foxborough, Mass.) whose slap
shot from the right side beat Stowell on his glove side. Wesleyan
answered at 17:32 with a tally off the stick of senior Geoff Mucha
(West Chester, Pa.). Mucha went top shelf with a shot from long
range on the right side, and Tasiopoulos picked up an
assist on the play.
Coulthard made 15 saves for Trinity before receiving a game
misconduct penalty 6:20 into the second. Freshman Samuel Calahan
(Edina, Minn.) had 20 saves in the final 33:40 as Wesleyan held a
38-24 edge in shots. Wesleyan avenged a 5-2 loss at
Trinity last night and defeated the Bantams for just the
second time in seven games with the victory.
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