Harrisville, R.I. (January 9) -- The Assumption College men's ice hockey team netted five goals on Friday night in an eventual 9-5 loss at Nichols College. The Greyhounds were led by freshman Matt Cowles (Farmington, Conn. / Avon Old Farms) who fired one goal and assisted another within 39 seconds to capitalize on a two-man advantage and bring the Hounds within one in the second period.

With the loss, Assumption drops to 6-9 overall while the Bison improve to 9-2-2.

The Hounds kicked off Friday's contest with a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal off the stick of junior Brandon Bete (Greenfield, Mass. / Northfield Mount Hermon). With the tally, Bete notched his team-high 11th goal of the season, following up a two-goal performance on Tuesday. Bete also added two assists on the evening.

Following Bete's opening maneuver, the Bison notched four quick goals within 8:09 to take a commanding 4-1 lead. Assumption goalie Chris Hemhauser (Old Saybrook, Conn. / Glastonbury), who has notched two shutouts and collected over 360 saves this season, was replaced by classmate Tyler Stillings (Wilmington, Mass. / Brooks) after surrendering three goals on eight shots in the first period. Despite the lop-sided score in the first, the Hounds outshot the Bison 18-9.

The Assumption offense exploded midway through the second period when Cowles notched his second goal of the season. The freshman, assisted by Bete and junior Pat Trainor (Auburn, Mass. / Auburn), scored at 10:57 to bring Assumption within two before assisting sophomore Ryan Gomez (Wayne, N.J. / Wayne Valley) just 39 seconds later to make the score a narrow 4-3. 

Nichols closed the period with five-straight, three on power play opportunities, to send the squads into the third with Assumption down 9-3.

Midway through the second period, the Hounds made another change in net, this time in favor of freshman Mario Pizzeri (Shrewsbury, Mass. / St. John's). Pizzeri collected 18 saves in his first collegiate appearance.

The Hounds posted two more goals in the third. The first came in the eighth minute from sophomore Stephen Picard (Enfield, Conn. / Loomis Chaffee), who was assisted by freshman Mike Sorenti (Sagamore Beach, Mass. / Archbishop Williams) while the second followed with just 13 seconds left in the contest.

Senior captain Brennen Shaw (Presque Isle, Maine / Brewster Academy) closed the match-up with his second strike of the season after accepting a pass from junior Alex Erban (Attleboro, Mass. / Mount Saint Charles) that yielded the final 9-5 score.

Assumption capitalized on two of three power play opportunities while Nichols was successful on four of five. Between the Pipes, Hemhauser registered five saves in 14:05, Stillings added five more in 19:11 and Pizzeri posted 18 in a span of 26:44 to close the game. Hemhauser takes the loss and drops to 6-6-0 on the season.

Overall, the Hounds outshot the Bison 41-37 including an 18-9 advantage in the first period. 
Assumption is set to return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 13, when the Hounds travel to the University of Rhode Island for an exhibition match-up scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

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