Department of athletics, physical education and recreation
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Ballentine and LaBounty Lift MIT Over WPI, 6-3
Jan. 31, 2008
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Junior forwards Ryan Ballentine and Nick LaBounty each scored two goals and added two assists to help MIT's men's ice hockey team down WPI, 6-3, on Wednesday night at the Johnson Ice Rink. The victory was MIT's tenth of the season and second of the campaign against WPI. The Engineers defeated the team that shares their nickname, 9-3, in November at WPI. After nearly 16 minutes of scoreless play to open the contest, a frantic four-minute stretch to finish the first period gave MIT (10-2-0) a 3-1 lead that it would never relinquish. Ballentine put Tech on the board with his first goal at 4:07 with help from LaBounty and sophomore Joseph Fahey, but the visitors leveled the score at 1-1 just 38 seconds later when Tyler Blais and Billy Petrone assisted Jay Breindel's team-leading eighth goal. The Cardinal and Gray responded less than two minutes later, however, with LaBounty scoring courtesy of assists from Ballentine and freshman Cory Phinney. LaBounty stretched MIT's lead to 3-1 when he notched his second goal with just 11 seconds remaining in the opening period, as he finished with help from Phinney and Mike Kozlowski. Rookie defenseman Nick Sisler secured his first intercollegiate goal and point at 15:28 of the middle stanza when he scored what proved to be the game-winner. Ballentine and LaBounty each picked up their second assists of the night on the strike. After getting off the mark with his first goal, Sisler wasted no time in notching his first assist, as he provided the decisive pass for Ballentine to score Tech's fifth at 11:51 of the second period, extending MIT's lead to 5-1. WPI (3-6-1) refused to lie down, however, and a Nate Roy goal (from Ian Monk and Breindel) late in the second frame gave the visitors hope that a comeback was still possible. That comeback seemed almost likely when WPI cut the deficit to 5-3 less than 30 seconds into the third period, as Roy grabbed his second with the only assist credited to Andy Capulli. However, the Cardinal and Gray regained its defensive composure and ultimately tacked on a sixth goal, as Justin Myers and Paul Puskarich provided the help for Dustin Kendrick's third of the season. Freshman goaltender Stephen Yablonski stopped 27 shots to earn the victory for MIT, while WPI net-minder Jeff Walker made 46 saves in a valiant effort, despite the loss. MIT will continue its three-game home-stand when it hosts division-rival Bryant University on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7:00 p.m. WPI will return to the ice on Friday, Feb. 1, as it will host Western Connecticut State University at 8:40 p.m. |
