Falmouth, MAINE - Saint Joseph's College (0-1) was downed 3-2 by Thomas College (1-0) in their home opener at Family Ice Arena on Sunday night. A goal in the final seconds of the third period led to the Monk's demise.
The opening period was back and forth and both teams had numerous chances to score. The Terriers netted the first goal of the night at 11:41 in the first period on a shot by Michael Hersom (Gardiner, Maine) that deflected off of a Monks defender and snuck past sophomore goaltender Jimmy Riley (Dedham, Mass.). As the period came to a close, both teams had chances to score, but both goaltenders stood strong and at the end of the first, the score remained 1-0 in favor of Thomas.
The second period was full of action. With just under six minutes gone in the period, Saint Joseph's freshman Dan Donovan (Lynn, Mass.) broke through the Terrier defensemen and fired a wrist shot toward Thomas netminder, Tanner Brooks (Spokane, Wash.), who made the initial stop, but Donovan picked up his own rebound and put though Brooks' five hole, tallying his first goal as a Monk and tying the game at 1. Just under two minutes later, at the 7:37 mark, Terriers Bryce Lamontagne (Saco, Maine) picked up a pass from Hersom and fired a shot toward Riley, which was deflected of a Monks' stick and found the back of the net and Thomas took a 2-1 lead. The Monks continued to fight and sophomore Joe Markey (Lynnfield, Mass.) hit Donovan with a pass as he skated into the Terrier's defensive zone. Donovan pulled the puck past the defenseman and beat Brooks blocker side at 10:15 to knot the game at 2.The score remained tied through the rest of the second.
Midway through the third period, a holding penalty was called on the Monks, which resulted in a penalty shot. Riley made a phenomenal pad save on Thomas' Garren LaFountain's (Richmond, Vt.) penalty shot attempt, keeping the Monks alive. With 4:50 to play in the period, the Monks took a 5-minute major penalty for boarding. This would leave them shorthanded for the remainder of the game. Saint Joseph's fought hard to kill off the penalty, but with just seconds remaining, Thomas' Kyle Mangin (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) took a shot toward Riley, which trickled through his pads and was then deflected into the net. The goal was scored with 4 seconds remaining and the Monks suffered a dramatic loss.
Monks goaltender, Jimmy Riley, had 33 stops on the night. Thomas goaltenders, Tanner Brooks and Connor Blair (Hartland, Vt.), had a combined 35 saves.
Saint Joseph's will play next in a rematch against Thomas on Friday, Nov. 8 at 8:30pm at Sukee Arena in Winslow, Maine.
