Hartford, Conn. – After a two-week hiatus, the No. 5 Trinity College men's hockey returned to the ice and scored a 4-2 victory over No. 14 Nichols on Saturday night at the Koeppel Community Sports Center on Williams Rink in the opening round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Bantams recorded their NCAA Tournament in program history to improve to 22-3-1 on the year, while the Bison end their winter with a 21-4-3 mark. Trinity will advance to the quarterfinals to take on Plattsburgh State next Saturday, Mar. 21. 

"It was a unique situation for us where we had that week in limbo before receiving our at-large berth," Trinity College Head Coach Matt Greason (fourth season) said. "Our seniors showed strong leadership by keeping our guys focused and loose."

With less than a minute remaining in the opening period, first-year forward Anthony Sabitsky (Sicklerville, N.J.) collected a pass from junior Elie Vered (Ottawa, Ontario) and fired a wrist shot that beat Nichols goaltender Alex Larson to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. The marker was Sabitsky's 10th of the season and came on the power play as Trinity took a 1-0 edge into the first intermission. The goaltenders stole the show during the first period as both Larson and Trinity junior netminder Nathaniel Heilbron (West Vancouver, British Columbia) made 10 saves apiece.

"Larson is a special goaltender," Greason added. "He showed his true ability tonight with over 50 saves. Their defensive core does an excellent job of not allowing second-chance opportunities because they're so well coached and we had to fight for our chances."

In the second period, the Bantams stretched their lead to three as junior forward Ben Hjalmarsson (Stockholm, Sweeden) and senior defenseman Greg Rooney (Worcester, Mass.) both potted their second markers of the season.   Just over eight minutes into the frame, senior Conor Coveney (Hingham, Mass.) won a face-off to left of Larson and after a scrum in front of the net, Hjalmarsson flipped a backhand that found the back of the net.

Five minutes later, first-year forward Tyler Whitney (Wakefield, Mass.) played the puck off the right boards to Sabitsky in front of the net, who found Rooney for his second tally of the year. Rooney fired a slap shot from just inside the circle that beat Larson low blocker side as Sabitsky recorded his 10th assist and Whitney notched his 13th helper.

Late in the stanza, the Bison came charging back as Sean Fleming scored back-to-back goals just over two minutes apart. Fleming's first marker came off a turnover deep in the Trinity zone as he dove and knocked a backhand over a sprawling Heilbron. His second tally pulled Nichols within one as he deflected the puck past Heilbron's glove with just over 30 seconds left. Nichols remained in the tilt thanks to the strong play of Larson as the 6-3 goaltender turned aside 24 shots in the second.

In the final period, the pace and physicality of the contest picked up as the two squads combined for 10 penalty minutes. With just over three minutes remaining in regulation, Trinity was whistled for a hooking penalty and the Bison went on the man advantage. During the power play, Nichols fired a pair of shots on goal that Heilbron stopped and just as Trinity successfully killed the penalty, the Bison pulled Larson in favor of an extra skater with a minute remaining. Off a face-off in the Bantam zone, Heilbron made a save and as the puck was jammed along the boards, sophomore Ryan Cole (Anchorage, Alaska) corralled it and beat the Nichols defense to ice the game with an empty-net tally.

Between the pipes, Heilbron made 34 saves to earn his 17th win of the season, while Larson stopped 53 shots in a losing effort for the Bison.

Offensively, Sabitsky led the way for the Bantams with a goal and an assist, while Cole potted his team-leading 15th of the season.

The hosts held a 57-36 advantage in shots and converted one of their three power-play opportunities. On special teams, the Bison went 0-for-2 on the man advantage.

"It was tough for us last year after not receiving an at-large berth," Trinity senior captain Michael Flynn (Cheshire, Conn.) said. "This year we kept everything positive and made sure we were ready to go once we got the bid. Their goalie played great and our guys did a goob job of sticking to the gameplan and getting pucks on net. Our first goal was huge it gave us momentum and we knew more would come."