Middletown, Conn. – The No. 3 Trinity College men's hockey team erased a one-goal first-period deficit and netted a trio of third-period tallies to score a 4-1 victory over Wesleyan in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action on Friday night inside Spurrier-Snyder Rink. With their sixth straight win, the Bantams improve to 20-2-1 overall and 15-1-1 in league play, while Cardinals dropped to 3-20-0 on the year and 2-15-0 in conference tilts.

With the score tied at one just over six minutes into the third, Trinity netted the eventual game winner as junior forward Michael Hawkrigg (Toronto, Ontario) received a pass from low on the right side during a Bantam power play, penetrated the high slot and fired a slap shot that beat Wesleyan sophomore goalie Dawson Sprigings high to the glove side through a screen.  The primary assist was credited to sophomore Ryan Cole (Anchorage, Alaska) for his 19th assist of the year with senior tri-captain Jackson Brewer (Newton, Mass.) registering his NESCAC-leading 24th helper on the Hawkrigg's 12th marker of the winter.

In the final minute of regulation, the Bantams put the game out of reach with two tallies. Senior Conor Coveney (Hingham, Mass.) gave the visitors a two-goal edge with 44 seconds as he fired a shot from center ice into an empty net. Less than 30 seconds later, sophomore Ethan Holdaway (Glastonbury, Conn.) gave a Trinity a three-goal advantage after he found the back of the net high to the right side from the slot with a wrister for his sixth of the season.

Freshman Bradley Buvinow (Turnersville, N.J.) knotted the game at 1-1 at the 14:53 mark of the second period, scoring on the rebound of his own initial shot that caromed off the left post.  His third goal of the year was assisted by junior Ben Hjalmarsson (Stockholm, Sweden) and senior Michael Flynn (Cheshire, Conn.).

Wesleyan had broken the ice at 16:37 of the first period as sophomore James Kline finished off series of shots in front of Bantam freshman netminder Alex Morin (St. Hubert, Quebec) by stuffing home the puck through a maze of players around the crease.  Kline leads the Cardinals with 10 goals on the season.  He was assisted by sophomore Quincy Oujevolk and junior Jay Matthews.

Between the pipes, Morin made 16 saves to record his fifth win of the winter for the Bantams. In his first conference action for Trinity, Morin turned aside 10 shots over the final two periods.

The Bantams and Cardinals close out the regular season tomorrow, Feb. 21, with a 4:00 p.m. contest in Hartford at the Koeppel Community Sports Center.

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