The Hawks picked up their first win of the young season Friday night, in a back and forth contest with Saint Mike’s. After three regulation periods were not enough to declare a victor, sophomore defender Shawn Moors put through the game-winning goal just over two minutes into overtime, to grab the 5-4 victory.

The defending New England-10 Conference champions were unsuccessful in their first regular season matchup with Babson College a week prior. Under the command of new head coach Larry Rocha ‘79, the team dropped the season-opener 4-2. Senior forwards Brian Cameron and Bryan Green scored the first goals of the year for Saint A’s, while senior goalie Colin Soucy picked up 27 saves in net.

Hitting the road for their second game of the season in a conference battle with the Purple Knights, Friday’s contest was delayed before it could really get going, when just four minutes into the game, a defect in the ice forced the game to be moved to the facility’s backup ice. This brief stunning of the game’s momentum would result in a scoreless first period for both sides.

From that point forward, however, it was nothing but action as both teams came fired up out of the first intermission. Saint Mike’s got the first tally of the day 1:45 into the new period to put the home team ahead 1-0. That only seemed to flip the switch for the visiting Hawks though, as the next four goals all belonged to Saint A’s.

Senior captain Jeremy Carignan got the scoring going for the team, on a power play goal at the 9:42 mark. Three minutes later, Moors would collect his first goal of the day, and was soon followed by sophomore forward John Femia only twenty-one seconds later. Freshmen forward Kilian Hammersmith would put home the fourth goal with a minute and a half left in the second period, his first career goal as a Hawk. The offensive blitzkrieg from the Hawks, saw them put in four goals in under nine minutes, to grab a commanding 4-1 lead, heading into the final period of regulation.

Not to be outdone, the Purple Knights would put on a show of their own in the third, scoring three goals before the nine-minute mark, as Saint A’s saw their lead vanish right before their eyes. Soucy did his part from there on, to send the game into overtime 4-4. After missing on their first shot of the bonus period, Moors’ wrist shot at the 2:02 mark sent the Hawks back to the hilltop with their first victory of the 2018-19 campaign. The Hawks outshot the Knights 34-22, as Soucy grabbed 18 saves to go along with his first win in net on the year.

Exiting last season as conference champs, this year’s men’s hockey squad seemed poised for another deep run. However, after first-year head coach Jim Tortorella unexpectedly split this past May for a position at Merrimack College (before then taking an assistant coaching gig at Harvard University), this program’s future was left up in the air. It was then-assistant coach Rocha, who was eventually appointed t0 lead duties behind the bench, after having been the assistant coach since the start of the 2013-14 season. Now 1-1 on the year, 1-0 in the NE10 conference, Rocha will be tasked with guiding a young-talented roster back to the NE10 championship.

The team will travel next to Franklin Pierce on Tuesday night for a conference match with the Ravens.