WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Keene State College men's ice hockey team scored three times in the opening 10:57 to build a commanding lead and went on to post a 5-2 win over Misericordia University on Saturday afternoon at the Toyota SportsPlex, closing their inaugural NCAA Division III season with six consecutive victories and wins in eight of their last 10.

The Owls finish 13-10-1, outscoring opponents 31-16 in a streak that began with a thrilling three-goal third period comeback against St. Anselm College on January 28.  From the time they trailed 5-2 against the Hawks, KSC outscored their opponents 29-11 and never trailed in four of their last five games.

Scoring balance became a big key to KSC's season-ending surge, and it was no different in the finale, as three different Owls found the back of the net in the opening 11 minutes.  Michael Boschetto broke the scoring ice 5:41 in when he was there to tip home a wrister from Filip Tjärnhell – a play that came about thanks to Payton Jones corralling the puck in the neutral zone and firing an initial attempt on Jacob Perrin that was blocked to the corner before getting to the Cougars' (4-18-3) goalie.  KSC doubled their lead not even a minute later when Thor Hansen jammed and forced a Misericordia turnover in their own zone before skating to the left faceoff dot and rifling a laser past Perrin's glove side.  Continued sustained offensive zone time by the Owls helped provide a 3-0 lead with a little over nine minutes left in the first period, as after the Cougars could not clear, Hansen wrapped the puck around behind the net for Kyle Gonzalez to collect.  The Orlando native then made his move toward the net, chipping a pass over to Sean Gray to had a clean look and beat Perrin as KSC came storming out of the gates to establish control.  The Owls wound up outshooting Misericordia 18-7 in the opening period – their highest shot total in a period on the weekend.

Just like they did on Friday night in erasing a two-goal deficit in the second, the Cougars responded, getting within 3-2 as Abraham Laggis and Jonathan Lush scored 2:45 apart midway through the period to suddenly make it a one-goal game.  However, Declan House – the team captain as the Owls get their program off the ground –  took a D-to-D pass from Ryan Koshiol with just under a minute left until the intermission and beat Perrin on a roofed shot from distance to make it 4-2 and keep the momentum on the Owls' side.

Will Slohm came up big as Misericordia pushed in the final 20 minutes, making 17 of his 38 stops in that period including five on a Cougars power play midway through.  Chase Carney then polished off his impressive season (12 goals, 12 assists, plus-19) by swiping the puck from Zach Ross and scoring a long-distance empty net goal from the faceoff dot in his own zone to salt the game away.  KSC finished 12-3 when scoring three goals or more on the season, winning their final 10 games in a row when reaching that mark.

Perrin made 28 saves in 56:36 for Misericordia, who was also in their first-ever season.

"Except for the second period, the boys played pretty well tonight," said Keene State head coach Bobby Rodrigue.  "It is not easy to play back-to-back games so far from home, so winning them in a solid way to finish our first season."

It was the first time the Owls played the same opponent consecutively, which could help come in handy when KSC embarks on a full conference schedule in the first year of the Little East Conference next year, which will feature 10 teams including a first-year program Western Connecticut State University along with affiliate members New England College, Babson College, and Norwich University.  The conference slate will feature a home-and-home matchup against every team to account for 18 games in total, with seven left for non-conference matchups.  The conference tournament begins in late February.

"We are happy for the boys to wrap up the season on a bit of a heater," said Rodrigue.  "It is a nice reward for their efforts and growth.  It is hopefully a great motivator for next season, too."

Marcus Chrisafideis finishes his first season as an Owl with a team-leading 18 goals (tied for third-most in Division III) and 33 points, followed by Carney's 24.  Peter Unger and Hansen each had nine goals, with Hansen scoring in five consecutive games to end the season and notching six goals and two assists overall in that stretch.  The Owls were 7-1 when he scored a goal this season.

"Now that we have got a season under our belts and the locker rooms are nearly complete, we will turn our attention to our off-ice work with the boys and our offseason planning.  The boys have earned a break and we are happy for them, but they will be back to work pretty quickly."

KSC featured a roster that included 17 freshmen and three sophomores.

The Owls will host their first two LEC games in program history, welcoming Babson College to Keene Ice on Friday, November 7 and the University of Southern Maine on Saturday, November 8.  Stay tuned to keeneowls.com over the course of the offseason for the full schedule, news, and updates.  Keene State athletics can be followed on social media @KeeneStateOwls and the men's ice hockey team at @KSC_MIH.