Boston, MA – CMCC Men's Hockey concluded its regular season with a 7-4 loss on the road to the Wentworth Institute of Technology Saturday night. Aaron Higgins and Cody Ivey each scored two more goals for the Mustangs, but four tallies from WIT's Nick Albrecht earned the Leopards a win in this clash between teams out of the NECHA Colonial North and South divisions.
Albrecht gave the hosts the lead 2:47 into the first period before Ivey tied things up 1-1 at the 8:40 mark. Michael Kerr beat Central Maine goaltender Sebastian Couturier a tick past the midway point of the period for a 2-1 Wentworth lead going into the first intermission.
In the second, Albrecht scored less than two minutes into the period, prompting a goaltender change for the Mustangs. Isaac White came in to play the remainder of the game, and CMCC responded by tying the game again at 3-3 thanks to two goals from Higgins. The Falmouth, ME native wraps up the regular season with an impressive 29 goals and 26 assists in 25 games while also leading the team in powerplay goals (8) and shots (221).
Carlos Botelho put the Leopards back in front 4-3 with a goal 16:52 into the second. Albrecht then completed his hat trick with six seconds remaining on a goalmouth scramble for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.
Nathan Johnson scored 23 seconds into the third period for a 6-3 Wentworth lead. Ivey made it a two-goal game with his 17th tally of the year at the 7:12 mark. But Albrecht put to bed any hopes of a comeback with his fourth goal of the game to seal the 7-4 victory
WIT, the #1 seed in the NECHA Colonial South, was one of the few teams to stay close to CMCC in shots, trailing only 45 to 43. Couturier ended the game with three goals allowed on 13 shots while White stopped 26 of 30 chances in relief. The loss was the #10 ranked Mustangs' first since November and ended the team's nine-game winning streak. Central Maine ends the regular season at 20-6-0 overall, setting a new program record for wins in a single season by just beating out the 2022-23 team that finished 18-3-1.
CMCC awaits the outcome of next weekend's Colby vs Dartmouth game. The Mustangs will enter the NECHA playoffs as the #2 seed in the Colonial North division unless the Big Green defeat the Mules by at least six goals in Waterville.
