Box Score Hartford, Conn. - With four seconds left in a 2-2 game, junior Taggart Corriveau (New Britain, Conn.) connected the puck with the back of the net to lift the Trinity College Bantams to victory over the Wesleyan University Cardinals in the regular season finale at the Koeppel Center in Hartford. The Bantams sweep the season series with Wesleyan after a 6-5 win over the Cardinals last night in Middletown, and secure the top-seed in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Tournament set to begin next weekend.
Trinity finishes the regular season with a 16-3-5 overall record and 12-2-4 mark in league play while Wesleyan falls to 15-7-2 and 13-3-2 in the league. The Bantams will host Tufts University next Saturday at a time to be determined in the NESCAC Quarterfinals.
Sophomore Dylan Healey (Goshen, N.Y.) netted a pair of first period goals to give the Bantams an early advantage. His first came less than two minutes after the opening faceoff after he picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and raced down ice. Finding himself 1-on-1 with Wesleyan goalie Matteo Esposito (Andover, Mass.), Healey ripped a wrist shot that bounced through the five-hole of Esposito and into the back of the net.
Healey found himself on the scoring end of a beautiful offensive possession just a few minutes later to give Trinity a two goal lead. Senior captain
Ryan Pfeffer (Canton, Mass.) sent the puck from the point to sophomore
Nicholas Polsinelli (Galloway, N.J.). Polsinelli immediately dished it to Healey at the weak-side post who fired a wrist shot home for the score.
The Cardinals cut into the deficit in the second period when Walker Harris (Boulder, Colo.) found the back of the net at the 4:58 mark. Tyler Levine (Laguna Beach, Calif.) fought for the puck in the corner of Trinity's defensive zone and managed to send a pass to Harris. Harris had a clear lane in front of him and buried a wrister into the top shelf of the net.
After 12 minutes without incident in the third, Wesleyan found the equalizer off the stick of Matthew Zandi (Mount Kisco, N.Y.). Zandi got a pass from Levine before firing a shot that went past Bantam junior netminder Tedy Loughborough (Wellesley Hills, Mass.) who was screened on the shot. Loughborough finished with 24 saves in his ninth win of the year in net.
The score remained 2-2 down to the final seconds before Corriveau played the hero for the Bantams. With seconds ticking down, Trinity possessed the puck in Wesleyan's zone. Sophomore Michael Grande (West Chester, Pa.) got the puck at the point with six seconds left and slid it to the right faceoff circle to Corriveau who was waiting for the pass, stick high. Corriveau clapped home a one-timer that snuck past Esposito and across the crease-line to give Trinity the 3-2 victory in thrilling fashion.
