Ice Hockey Falls To Becker, 4-1, In Opening Round Of City Cup Championship

Marlboro, MA --- Becker sophomore Nicholas McKee (Bakersfield, CA/Fresno Monsters) highlighted three different players who registered one goal and one assist as he helped lead the Hawks to a 4-1 victory over Worcester State in the opening round of the Worcester City Cup at the New England Sports Center.

Becker (2-7) moves to the championship on Sunday at 7 PM to take on Nichols, who defeated Assumption, 4-2, in the other semifinal matchup. The Lancers (2-4-2) will play Assumption at 4 o'clock in the consolation game.

The Hawk got the scoring started with two first period goals over the first 13 minutes of the contest.

Sophomore Connor Merrick (Manchester, NH/NH Jr Monarchs) lit up the lamp at the 4:33 mark off a rebound before McKee potted the eventual game-winning tally off a power play as junior Tyler Auricchio (Henderson, NV/Idaho Jr. Steelheads) and sophomore Edward Osowski (Montclair, NJ/Flint Jr Generals) had the helpers on the play.

After Osowski made the score 3-0 in favor of Becker midway through the second frame, junior Joe White (Wonder Lake, IL/Southern Oregon Spartans) broke the shutout bid with his third tally of the campaign off an assist by sophomore Alex Taddeo (Franklin, MA/Boston Jr Rangers) and sophomore Colin Edwards (Wincester, MA/Junior Mariners), with 14:15 off the clock in the second.

The Hawks scored their fourth of the contest with time winding down in the period as Auricchio scored an empty net goal with 2:06 remaining in regulation.

Becker sophomore Tyler Stepke (Mars, PA/Three Rivers Vengeance) turned aside 28 of the 29 shots he saw between the pipes as he moved to 1-2 on the season. Freshman Tyler Fallica (Coram, NY/Ogden Mustangs) was dealt the loss for WSU while he dropped to 0-1-1 with 22 saves in the cage.

Becker held the 21-14 edge in shots over the first two periods before Worcester State finished the contest with the 15-3 margin in the third period.

The Lancers also couldn't stay out of the box as they were whistled for six minor penalties and the defense killed a five-minute major towards the end of the first to preserve the two-goal deficit. The Hawks were 1-for-7 overall with the extra man edge and the Blue and Gold did not score on either of their two power play attempts.