TAMPA, FL – Senior
Greg Bilek netted the game-winning goal from
Matthew Farrington with :10 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Nazareth to a 12-11 victory over Western New England on Saturday at the University of Tampa. Netminder
Eric Almquist came up with some huge saves down the stretch, finishing with a career-high 22.
Nazareth snaps a six-game losing streak with the win and is now 2-6 on the season, while the Golden Bears drop to 1-5.
The Golden Flyers appeared to be running away with the contest, breaking open a 4-4 tie at halftime by outscoring Western New England 6-1 in the third quarter.
William O'Neill started the third quarter scoring, followed by
Jesse Woodill and
Quinn McKercher, before Western New England scored its only goal of the quarter.
Louis Cogliandro then netted his second of the day to begin the Golden Flyers run of three-straight goals to end the quarter. McKercher, who finished with two goals, made it 9-5. Bilek took a feed from
Owen Riley to close out the scoring in the quarter to make it 10-5 in favor of Nazareth.
After Western New England scored :50 seconds into the fourth, Cogliandro scored his third of the day at the 12:25 mark, the lone Golden Flyers goal of the quarter. He is now tied with
Quinn McKercher with a team-high 15 goals on the year.
Western New England flipped the third quarter script on the Golden Flyers, scoring six goals of their own in the fourth, to just one for Nazareth to force overtime.
The Golden Bears tied the game at 11 with just under two minutes to play. Almquist came up huge at the :30 second mark with back-to-back saves to help send the game to overtime.
In the overtime period, Nazareth had a 4-2 edge in shots. Bilek converted a shot in tight to seal the victory with :10 seconds left in overtime, with a mob celebration ensuing from the rest of the Golden Flyer squad.
Quinn Conroy finished with two goals and one assist, while Bilek and McKercher each notched two goals.
Luke Suchyna finished 11-for-23 at the face-off circle and had a team-high nine ground balls.
Nazareth returns to action on Wednesday, traveling to Brockport for a 4 pm contest.
