Box Score Pawtucket, R.I. – Freshman Peter Gintoli (Monroe, Conn.) sent home his team-leading third game-winning goal to lift the Salve Regina men's ice hockey team past intra-state rival Johnson & Wales in an ECAC Northeast contest at Lynch Arena on Wednesday evening.
Johnson & Wales got on the board first when a power play goal by senior Jason Pietrasiak (Shrewsbury, Mass.) just 4:52 into the contest put the Wildcats up 1-0. JWU extended their lead to 2-0 with a goal by senior Danny Kaufman (Scotch Plains, N.J.) at the 8:01 mark. Salve Regina would respond, however on a goal by freshman Samuel Valentine (Forestdale, Mass.), cutting the lead to 2-1 midway through the first period. JWU took the one goal lead heading into the locker room at the first intermission.
The two teams exploded offensively in the second stanza with six goals between the two schools. Junior Chad Hollenshade (Lutherville, Md.) tallied a pair of goals, including the game-tying goal late in the period as the visiting Seahawks took the 5-4 lead after two periods of play.
Johnson & Wales regained the lead with a pair of goals just :16 seconds apart in the third period as Kaufman's second goal of the game knotted the game at 5-5 at the 13:35 mark and freshman Josh Obregon (Omaha, Neb.) put the Wildcats up 6-5 at the 13:51 mark. The visiting Seahawks tied the game at 6-6 at the 16:48 mark with a goal by sophomore John Scorcia (Hudson, Fla.) to send the game into overtime tied at 6-6.
After battling back and forth through the early stages of overtime, freshman Gintoli tallied the game-winner at the 3:07 mark to propel Salve Regina to the 7-6 victory.
Sophomore Brad Atkinson (Huntington Beach, Calif.) made 14 stops in the loss for Johnson & Wales while senior
Mike McDonald (Whitby, Ontario) had 30 saves in the win for Salve Regina.
With the loss Johnson & Wales falls to 7-12-1 for the year and 3-5-1 in the ECAC Northeast while Salve Regina improves to 7-11-1 on the season and 4-5-0 in league play.
Johnson & Wales will return to action on Sunday, February 4th when they travel to Wentworth for an ECAC Northeast contest starting at 2:00 p.m. Salve Regina returns to the ice when the Seahawks travel to Boston, Mass. to face Suffolk on Feb. 2. The opening faceoff is set for 4:35 p.m.
