Saint Joseph's College (1-1) defeated Thomas College (3-2) by a score of 7-6 on Friday night. Both teams came out strong for the first few minutes of the game, but the Terriers struck first with a goal by Bryce Lamontagne (Saco, Maine) just under five minutes into the first period.
The Monks battled back and freshman Brandon Ward (Houlton, Maine) tallied his first collegiate goal at 14:03 to knot the game at one. Thirty seconds later, sophomore Mario Lemieux (Biddeford, Maine) dished a pass to sophomore Ryan Berard (Millville, Mass.) who buried the go-ahead goal, making it 2-1 in favor of the Monks. Just over thirty seconds later, the Monks went ahead 3-1 on a goal by Lemieux that beat goaltender Tanner Brooks (Spokane, Wash.) glove side, which was assisted by senior Nick Chenette (Bedford, N.H.) and freshman Mark LaPierre (Wayland, Mass.). However, the Monks were not done quite yet. They scored yet again just six seconds later when senior Mat Gordon (Auburn, Maine) sent a pass to freshman Jack Gordon (Hingham, Mass.) who proceeded to put the puck into the back of the net and put the Monks on top 4-1. At this point, the Monks were on fire having scored four goals in a just over a minute of play. The game continued up and down the ice, but the Monks struck again with another goal from Berard assisted by freshman Billy Cooke (Pelham, N.H.) with 6:09 remaining in the first to make it 5-1. The game remained at 5-1 for the remaining of the first with numerous saves by both goaltenders in the last six minutes.
One minute into the third period, a penalty shot was called against the Monks. Thomas' Matthew McRobert (Maplewood, N.J.) made a nice move as he approached the net, but was stoned by Riley's glove hand and the game remained 5-1. Just over five and a half minutes into the second, the Terriers notched their second goal of the game when Michael Hersom (Gardiner Maine) passed the puck to Tom Proux (Cholet, France) who snuck it past Monks goaltender Jimmy Riley (Dedham, MA). The Monks answered on the power play with 8:06 remaining as Berard scored his third goal of the game on a pass from Cooke. Berard put the Monks ahead 7-2 as he scored his fourth goal of the game just a couple of minutes later. This goal was scored on the power play and assisted by Lemieux and Cooke. With 2:23 remaining, Thomas' Lamantagne buried his second goal of the game, beating Riley with a shot blocker side. The Terriers struck again when Hersom pounced on a rebound that found the back of the net with 1:44 remaining in the second period.
As the third period began, the score was 7-4 in favor of the Monks. Both teams came out flying and Riley made numerous stops in goal, but it was only a matter of time before the Terriers found the back of the net. On a power play at 15:51, Cody Leblanc (Berlin, N.H.) picked up a rebound from a Matt Letellier (Saco, Maine) shot, making the game 7-5. Thomas struck for the last time at 11:13 on a power play goal by Eric Morin (Lewiston, Maine), which was assisted by Garren LaFountain (Richmond, Vt.). The Monks continued to battle and clung to their one-goal lead for the remaining portion of the game.
Saint Joseph's tallied their first win on the season, improving to a 1-1 record. Sophomore netminder Jimmy Riley made 52 saves in the victory. On the other end, Thomas goaltenders Tanner Brooks and Dakota Gendreau (Waterville, Maine) combined for 47 saves on the night.
Saint Joseph's will play next on Thursday, November 21st at Bates College. The game is set to begin at 7pm at Underhill Arena, Lewiston Maine.
