Worcester, Mass. (January 6) -- The Assumption College Ice Dogs fell to Becker College, 7-5, in the first round of the inaugural Worcester City Shootout at the Buffone Arena on Friday night.
Assumption senior Nick Blanchette (Stuart, Fla./Worcester Academy) turned away 47-of-53 shots in the loss, while Jake Rosenthal picked up the victory, saving 27-of-32 shots he faced.
The Ice Dogs fell behind at the 9:23 mark of the first period when James Shea beat Blanchette on assists from Nick DiNardo and Branden Parkhouse.
Assumption equalized on a second period goal by Pat O'Kane (Hollis, N.H./Bishop Guertin) at the 6:31 mark, assisted by Keven Meehan (Melrose, Mass./Austin Prep) and Ross White (Uxbridge, Mass./Uxbridge) on the power play.
Becker took the lead back thirty seconds later on an unassisted power play goal by David Graham, and then Becker added two more goals, by Graham and Shea, to extend the lead to three, 4-1.
Assumption cut the lead to two with a goal by Mike Heyde (Natick, Mass./Natick), assisted by Nick Mattiello (Johnston, R.I./Bishop Hendricksen) and Mike Looney (Shrewsbury, Mass./Saint John's) at the 16:01 mark in the second period. Becker extended the lead back to three with a goal by Dan Kane at the 18:43 mark of the second period. Assumption responded with a goal by O'Kane less than a minute later, his eighth of the season, assisted by Joe Fimiani (Arlington, Mass/Arlington) and the goalie, Blanchette to cut the lead to 5-3 after two periods.
The Ice Dogs scored the first two goals of the third period, first by Dave Maiocco (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic), assisted by Looney and Meehan, and Mattiello, assisted by Maiocco and Glanzman, to tie the game up with 10:36 to play.
Becker again answered as Parkhouse added the game winning goal at the 14:27 mark, then added an empty net goal to give Becker the 7-5 lead, the final margin.
Assumption falls to 6-6-1 on the season, and will face Nichols College in the consolation game at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, while Becker College improves to 4-8-1 and will face Worcester State in the championship game at 7:30.
