KEENE, N.H. – Peter Unger tipped home a shot from Marcus Chrisafideis on the power play with 47 seconds left in the second period, and that ultimately proved to be the game-winner as the Keene State College men's ice hockey team beat Western New England University 2-1 on Saturday night at Keene Ice in their first home game of the new calendar year.

Highlights...coming soon
Postgame Interview (Coach Rodrigue)...coming soon
Postgame Interview (Peter Unger)

It was the Owls' (7-8-1) first matchup at Keene Ice since a 4-3 overtime win over St. Michael's College on December 7, having played five consecutive road games since where they went 2-3 and closed the stretch with a 3-0 shutout win at Nichols College last Saturday.

KSC's defense was strong again on this night, as they got a 33 save performance from Ben Skelton and allowed just one goal that came when the Golden Bears (4-10-1) were on a five-minute power play following a major penalty to Corey Tumenas halfway through the second period.  The Owls have not allowed an even strength goal in their last two games, and Skelton currently has a .921 save percentage over 680:09 of his rookie season.

Early on, it did not seem like it had the makings of a 2-1 game as the Owls were all over WNE to start, recording the first 12 shots of the game in the opening 4:53 before the Golden Bears recorded their initial attempt.  Anthony Aureliano made 17 stops in the first 17 minutes before KSC broke the scoring ice with 2:28 left in the first period, a play that developed when Payton Jones found Chase Carney streaking through the neutral zone up the left side.  The 6-foot-4 forward moved into the zone and past the faceoff dot before beating defenseman Jake Mendeszoon to the front of the net, where he potted his third goal in the last two games and 17th point on the season.  The Lynnfield, Mass. native also improved his plus/minus mark to a team-best plus-14, scoring his seventh even strength goal.

The Owls carried the 1-0 lead into the intermission after Aureliano made three stops on an Owl power play where they had a chance to take firm control of the game early.
Momentum began to shift partway into the second, as Aureliano saved eight more in the opening eight minutes to keep it 1-0.  Unger had a chance to score 4:21 in, but dinged a shot off the post.  KSC's momentum was halted at the 10:07 mark with the head contact major penalty on Tumenas' hit on Everest Schneider.  After Skelton made five saves to begin the power play in less than a minute, it was Schneider who scored from the left faceoff dot off a perfect feed from Mendeszoon to tie the game at one with 3:23 left in the power play and 8:26 in the period.  The Owls would go on to kill off the remainder of the penalty, blocking five shots in the process.

It seemed Western New England would head into the third period with momentum in a 1-1 game, but Jordie Morgan took a hooking penalty with 1:27 to go and KSC made it hurt, as after Chrisafideis had two previous attempts during the man advantage – one blocked and one saved by Aureliano – he took a pass from Sean McBride and rifled it toward goal where Unger was there to tip it home with 46.4 on the clock for a 2-1 Owl lead.

Keene State clamped down on WNE in the third, with five of the visitors' 12 shots in the period coming on two unsuccessful power play chances, the last of which with eight minutes to go.  Skelton made a huge save at the end of a 4-on-3 chance for the visitors, gloving a breakaway chance by Brayden Patricia at the 8:13 mark.  The Golden Bears then committed two penalties in the later stages of the third, and although they killed off both, the Owls established the attacking zone and foiled any sustained pressure down the stretch including the final 1:36 when WNE skated 6-on-5 with an empty net.

Aureliano finished with 45 saves for the Golden Bears, who have lost three of four in the new year and five of six overall.

KSC won 47 of 83 faceoffs while improving to 3-2 on home ice in their inaugural NCAA Division III season.

The Owls return to action on Martin Luther King Day (Monday, January 20) for a 2:15 p.m. matinee against Fitchburg State University (7-7-0, 4-4-0 MASCAC).  KSC began their road stretch with a 4-0 win on the road over the Falcons on December 8.  Fitchburg has lost six straight, dropping 7-6 and 7-1 decisions to Anna Maria College and Westfield State University, respectively, in their last two games at home after a 3-2 road loss in overtime at Plymouth State University last Saturday.