Box Score HOOKSETT, N.H. –
Sean McBride scored 30 seconds into yet another overtime for the Keene State College men's ice hockey team as the Owls took down Southern New Hampshire University 3-2 in overtime Tuesday night at The Ice Den Arena.
In what was already the third game requiring extra time – fourth including exhibitions – the Owls (2-2-1) emerged victorious for the first time, and did so quickly, as McBride cashed in passes from
Kyle Gonzalez and
Thor Hansen on the opening shift. It marked Hansen's fifth assist of the season and Gonzalez's fourth already, both playing on KSC's top line.
For the second consecutive game, the Owls got off to a flying start as a shorthanded goal by
John Belisle opened the scoring at 10:35 of the opening period before Filip Tjärnhell doubled the lead off a feed from McBride just 3:36 into the second. The Penmen (1-3-0) rallied to tie, however, getting a power play goal from Ryan Pomposelli with about six minutes left in the second to make it 2-1 before Jack Gray tied it with 2:30 left in regulation to force overtime.
Southern New Hampshire had a 35-22 edge in shots on goal, but KSC had 16 blocks to the hosts' nine. Tjärnhell and Belisle, two of the three goal scorers, combined for seven of the Owls' 22 shots on SNHU goalie Sean Guerin, who made 19 saves.
Artur Dzhilavyan made 33 saves in a strong collegiate debut to pick up the win, including 10 in the opening 20 minutes when KSC was outshot 19-6 including 10-4 on goal.
"We had much better commitment to our structure tonight," said Keene State head coach Bobby Rodrigue. "Bending but not breaking and handling adversity is a sign of pretty rapid growth for this group. We had several players under the weather this morning, which forced us to change our lineup tonight. The boys battled through it though."
A busy three-game week for the Owls continues Thursday (November 14) when they visit Westfield State University (2-2-0) at 7:35 p.m. KSC is back home on Saturday, November 16 when they welcome the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth at 3:30 p.m. The Owls downed Westfield 3-1 for their first NCAA Division III win and fell to UMD 4-2 last week.
