From The Statesman
By Anthony DiCocco
Though it came into the weekend flying high on a four-game win streak, the No. 13 Stony Brook hockey team had its wings clipped while playing the best team in the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
This past weekend, the Seawolves (7-5-1, 4-1-1 ACCHL) entered an unwelcoming environment at the Dwyer Ice Arena in Lewiston, N.Y. to face off against the nation’s No. 1 squad — the Niagara Purple Eagles (13-1). Stony Brook was convincingly defeated 5-1 during the series opener on Saturday, Nov. 15, before dropping a tightly-contested affair 4-3 on Sunday, Nov. 16.
In the series’ opening matchup, the Purple Eagles struck first. Niagara defenseman Cullen McCormick pinched in and sent the puck down low, prompting defenseman Jackson Haskins to knock it away. However, he put it right onto Niagara center Logan Furlong’s tape in the slot, where he ripped a wrist shot over goaltender Steven Reganato’s left shoulder.
Later in the first period, a self-inflicted wound ended up costing the Seawolves. Winger Peter Labos attempted a no-look drop pass, but no one was home and the puck slid into open ice in the neutral zone. Niagara winger Charlie Belanger beat everyone to the loose puck and beat Reganato on a breakaway to make it 2-0 heading into the first intermission.
After a scoreless stretch, the Purple Eagles stretched their lead to 3-0 during the final five minutes of the second period. Reganato initially stopped a backhand try from winger Cayden Glover on a partial breakaway, but fellow winger Aiden Kalin was there to clean up the rebound for a power-play tally.
Despite the lofty deficit, the Seawolves got a life line early in the final period. From right point, defenseman Charles Poirier threw a seemingly harmless shot toward the net that defenseman Kyle Nestepny — who played forward throughout the weekend — redirected past Niagara goaltender Jackson Pundyk to bring them within two goals.
However, that was all Stony Brook would be able to muster up offensively. Soon after, winger Jakob Kalin received a pass in the neutral zone, knifed his way through the middle of the ice and sniped a shot past Reganato’s glove to regain the Purple Eagles’ three-goal advantage.
As the clock winded down on the Seawolves’ improbable comeback hopes, Niagara center Adam Sojka put the final nail in the coffin. Winger Peter Spameni rushed down the right side and centered a feed to Sojka at the doorstep of the crease, tapping it in to make it 5-1 and ice the game.
Flipping the script from game one, Stony Brook got on the board first during the series finale. Winger Justin Nakagawa and defenseman Colin Wenrich ran a scissors play at the point before Nakagawa dropped it to Wenrich. From there, Wenrich stormed down the wall and lit the lamp.
The Seawolves’ lead was short-lived, as Aiden Kalin knotted the game at one goal apiece shortly after. Off a cross-crease pass from Belanger, Kalin whacked a backhander through Reganato and into the back of the net.
Early in the second period, winger Jacob Cossette put the Purple Eagles ahead 2-1. Cossette led a two-on-one rush into Stony Brook’s zone and opted to keep the puck himself, firing a wrister from the top of the right circle that eluded Reganato on his glove side.
From there, the seesaw battle continued. After pushing a faceoff forward, center Will Kormanik retrieved the puck below the goal line and snuck a wraparound between the post and goaltender Jacob Dubinsky’s left pad to tie the game at 2-2.
In the waning minutes of the middle frame, Niagara center Ty Gilberds reclaimed the lead for his squad. Aiden Kalin sent a cross-ice dish to Gilberds, who was lurking at the left dot. From there, he one-timed a slapper over Reganato’s blocker and in.
Following a physical second period, the Seawolves deadlocked the game at 3-3 early in the third. Nakagawa accepted an outlet pass from defenseman Dylan Kowalsky and quickly slipped it over to Nestepny. Nestepny weaved his way through Purple Eagles and found open ice in the left dot, allowing him to rifle a shot past Dubinsky for his second goal in as many nights.
Despite its best efforts to match it stride for stride, the country’s top team proved too big of a mountain to climb for Stony Brook. After the Seawolves got their equalizer, Niagara defenseman Alex Little fed Belanger in the high slot, who snapped a blistering one-timer over Reganato’s left pad to put the Purple Eagles ahead 4-3.
Stony Brook’s comeback effort fell on deaf ears, as it was unable to solve Dubinsky for the rest of the night en route to being swept.
Across two starts, Reganato surrendered nine goals.
In his return to the lineup, Nestepny led the team with a pair of goals, while Kormanik and Wenrich tallied one each. Nakagawa added two helpers. Poirier and Kowalsky recorded an assist apiece.
With their difficult matchup against a former Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League foe now behind them, the Seawolves will return home this weekend to battle the Syracuse Orange. The Orange are 5-9-2 overall on the season and 2-3-0 against Atlantic Coast Conference Hockey League rivals. They enter the two-game set having split with Oswego last weekend. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at The Rinx for the series opener on Saturday, Nov. 22. The two sides will wrap up their bout the next day at 3:30 p.m.
(Originally published at https://sbstatesman.com/140511/sports/no-13-stony-brook-hockeys-winning-streak-snapped-in-sweep-by-no-1-niagara/)
