The William Paterson Pioneers opened up the new calendar year with a matchup versus Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA) foe Villanova on Friday, January 17th at the Ice Vault Arena.  Both teams were opening up second half play after each team closed out the fall semester on hot streaks.

WPU 5 VILLANOVA 4 (Box Score)

Going into this Friday night matchup, the Pioneers were looking for the season sweep vs Villanova.  Similar to the first meeting in October, the Pioneers got off to a slow start.  Villanova took the physical play to the home team and posted a 2 goal lead early in the second period.  Alex Cavaluzzo (Lake Hiawatha, NJ) provided a much needed spark with 2 goals in a 3 minute span early in the second period.  Daniel Trionfo (Towaco, NJ) scored his first as a Pioneer off a nifty passing play from Mike King (Oak Ridge, NJ) and Jimmy Hunt (Ramsey, NJ) to make it 3-2 Pioneers after 40 minutes.  In the 3rd period, it would be two seniors closing the deal with Nick Brown (Ridgewood, NJ) and Tommy Bauer (Fords, NJ) scoring goals.  It was a successful debut for Brown, who is back in the Pioneer lineup after notching 17 goals during the 2017-18 season.  Freshman goaltender, Cole Mulholland fought through an injury late in the second period to seal the victory with 32 saves.

The Pioneers continue the campaign and the hunt for a Nationals bid currently sitting in 3rd place in the ECHA with 23 points.

The team will have two more ECHA contests next weekend with a trip to Lehigh on 1/24 at 9:30pm and a home game vs Towson on 1/26 at 6:15pm.

Photo Credit: Marissa Vandenberg