GAME OF THE WEEK Ice Hockey Wins 7-4 Over Bridgewater in Final Game of 2008
The MIT Men’s Ice Hockey team tallied four consecutive goals in the final 24 minutes, the last two by Justin D. Myers ’11 to complete a hat trick, en route to a 7-4 win over Bridgewater State College in their final game of 2008. Myers was one of five Engineers to find the back of the net while Michael C. Kozlowski G led the team with three assists.
John Cole gave Bridgewater State the early lead, scoring just three minutes into the contest. The Engineers struck back mid-way through the period on Ryan W. Ballentine’s ’09 power-play goal from Nick R. LaBounty ’09. Bridgewater State regained the lead just over a minute later on a tally by Derek Fortuna.
Myers’ first marker of the game came 1:12 into the second period as he beat Bridgewater State goaltender Dan Norton off a pass from Vladimir Sobes ’11. Cole’s second goal just 1:06 later gave the advantage to the host Bears once again. Bill Near (from Michael Rosensweig and Brad Holschuh) erased that deficit shortly after, tying the game at three. Despite matching BSC goal-for-goal through the game’s first 30 minutes, MIT was still unable to break through and gain the lead. Chris Boyle pushed the Bears ahead yet again, 4-3, with just over eight minutes remaining in the second period.
That goal would prove to be Bridgewater State’s last however, setting up MIT’s dramatic four-goal spurt to close out the contest. Kevin M. Farino ’10 struck first with 3:39 remaining in the second, as Kozlowski and Myers picked up their first assists of the night. Finally, with 12:01 to go in regulation, Sobes gave the Engineers their first lead in the game, scoring what would prove to be the game winner with help from Ballentine and Kozlowski. Myers added a pair of insurance goals less than one minute apart to clinch the come from behind win.
In addition to Myers and Kozlowski, eight Engineers ended up in the point column, with Ballentine, Sobes, and Farnio each recording a goal and an assist. MIT goaltender Stephen L. Yablonski ’11 was solid between the pipes, making 31 saves to pick up the win.
The Engineers return to action on January 14 when they host Northeastern at 7:00 p.m. in the Johnson Ice Rink.