West Haven, CT - Saint Joseph's junior defenseman Sean Costa (Burlington, MA) sparked the offense with a hat trick to help the Monks overcome an early three goal deficit in the season opener against the New Haven Chargers.
New Haven, carrying momentum from an 11 goal performance in their previous game, would have the better scoring chances in the first period. The Chargers took the lead at 11:19 of the first period off a goal from Charlie Ricard. The Monks were given their chances to even the score late in the first period, including a 5 on 3 power play opportunity, but were unable to capitalize. The Monks headed to the locker room down 1-0 after the first period of the season.
Ricard buried his second for the Chargers early in the second period, and just over a minute later, the Josh O'Neal would finish a shorthanded breakaway bid to give New Haven a 3-0 lead. The Monks responded on the same power play, with Costa blasting home a Dan Donovan (Lynn, MA) feed to put the royal blue on the board. The momentum began to shift from there with the Chargers taking a major penalty for boarding. The Monks scored twice on the five minute power play. First, it would be Ryan Berard (Millville, MA) making a nifty move around a defender and finishing for his first goal of the season, then Costa evened the game at three with his second tally. Late in the period Saint Joseph's freshman Jeff Comeau (Watertown, MA) followed up a Zach Graham (Marlborough, MA) chance for his first goal of his career, giving the Monks a 4-3 lead after two.
With just over three minutes gone in the third frame, the Chargers evened the game as Wyatt Condon was left alone in front of the net. Saint Joseph's, after creating a number of scoring chances throughout the period, would finally break through with Costa striking for his third goal of the game. The Chargers put the pressure on to end the game. Saint Joseph's senior net minder Jimmy Riley (Dedham, MA) was up to the task, shutting the door on the New Haven offense. Riley was called upon to make a number of saves late to secure the 5-4 win.
The win marks the first official win for Saint Joseph's 1-0 (1-0 NECHA) as a member of the Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association. New Haven falls to 1-1 (1-1) on the season.
