Ben Blotner
Senior Sports Writer
The College of Wooster ice hockey club held its senior night on Friday, Feb. 22 at Alice Noble Ice Arena. The Fighting Scots fell to the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford Panthers by a score of 5-2, but held pregame festivities to honor the squad of seniors Leonard Wine ’19, Connor Ferreri ’19 and Will Noel ’19.
Pitt-Bradford scored the first goal of the game early in the first period, as Jake George ’21 got them on the board with an assist from Jack Pecora ’22. Four minutes later, Pitt-Bradford’s Noah Warns ’19 was given a penalty for interference. Wooster tied the score at the 10:41 mark with a goal from Wine, the club president, who was assisted by Jack Galle ’21. Wine was then called for a penalty on a minor infraction, but helped the Scots score another goal with 1:42 left in the first period, again teaming up with Galle for the point. This time, Wine earned the assist as Galle slammed the puck in to give Wooster the lead. After the first period, the Scots held a 2-1 edge over the Panthers. Unfortunately, their offense would be held in check the rest of the way.
The game’s second period was relatively uneventful for the first several minutes, as Wooster held on to its slim lead. Finally, with less than five minutes the clock, Pitt-Bradford’s Matt Labacic ’19 scored the only goal of the period to tie the score at two; Pecora earned his second assist of the night. In the period’s final minutes, Jack Kellam ’21 of Pitt-Bradford was sent to the penalty box for a minor infraction. The Scots also received a penalty as they were called for interference, but neither team was able to capitalize on the other side’s mistake. The score remained 2-2 going into the final period.
In the third period, the game was decided when the Panthers’ offense came to life for three goals, the first of which came relatively quickly. Pitt-Bradford jumped out to the lead at the 18:14 mark, with Pecora once again contributing to the offense. This time, Pecora did the scoring after Warns got him the puck for an assist. Soon after, Pecora committed a penalty by tripping a Wooster player. Pitt-Bradford’s Matt Marynchak ’20 was also sent to the penalty box for committing a high stick. Despite the infractions, Pitt-Bradford was able to add to the lead with two more goals off the sticks of Labacic and Warns. Wooster was called for a penalty in the final minute, but it had no bearing on the final score. The Panthers’ three-goal margin would stand, as they won the game by a final score of 5-2.
Wooster’s ice hockey club will miss seniors Wine, Ferreri and Noel when the remaining players take the ice for the 2019-20 season. The group will need a new president after Wine graduates, as well as a new secretary to fill the void left by Ferreri. Daniel Engel ’20 will presumably continue as the club’s treasurer, along with Jim Burnell as the advisor.
