Ice Hockey Opens Semester With 1-0 Triumph Over Nichols In Worcester City Shootout

Worcester, MA --- Senior net minder Bryan Kalczynzki (Tonawanda, NY) stopped all 41 shots that he faced to register his second-straight shutout for Worcester State as he helped lead the Lancers to a 1-0 triumph in the opening round of the inaugural Worcester City Shootout.

The Blue and Gold (5-4-2) move to the championship on Saturday at 7:30 against Becker while the Bison (2-9-1) look to tomorrow's consolation versus Assumption at 4:30. The Hawks dispached the Greyhounds, 7-5, in the other semifinal contest.

The lone marker in the contest came with 4:10 off the clock in the first period when senior Nick Asterito (Philadelphia, PA) fired a shot to the high glove side as he came sweeping up the ice from the left side. Fourth-year John Cahalane (Tewksbury, MA) and junior Tim Bowman (Moorpark, CA) helped set-up the short-handed marker for WSU.

The remainder of the contest was relatively even as the Nichols led in shots, 41-29, and the Lancers had the 43-37 edge in faceoffs. The two squads were both 0-for-4 with the extra man advantage. 

Nichols had several scoring opportunities throughout the game, but Worcester State did a great job to keep their opponents off the board. Bison senior Jacob Rinn (Warwick, RI) also did a tremendous job of keeping the Blue and Gold at bay as he finished with 28 saves.

In the second period, senior Andrew Ella (Shomberg, Ontario) had the best bid just before the third Bison power play expired at the 17:31 mark. All alone, Ella wristed a low line drive, but Kalczynski read the play beautifully and collected the stop.

Asterito also had a chance with 16:10 in the final stanza on a power play, but Rinn snatched it out of the air to keep the game right where it was. 

Kalczynski notched his first career shutout in his last outing as he blanked Salem State 4-0 on December 10. He entered the contest 10th in the NCAA Division II/III in save percentage (.931) and 18th in goals against average (2.07). Cahalane also now leads WSU with 11 points – eight coming off assists.