Shapiro Makes 49 Saves for the Huskies

            HENNIKER, N.H. -- Senior goalie Brett Kilar (Coto da Caza, Calif.) stopped 26 shots to backstop the second-seeded New England College Pilgrims to a 3-0 victory over the seventh-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies in a quarterfinal round game of the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) Championship tournament Saturday night at Lee Clement Arena.

            The victory was the seventh straight for the Pilgrims and improved their overall record to 18-7-0.  The Huskies dropped their fourth consecutive game to finish the season 9-15-2 overall.  This was the fifth time the two teams have met in the postseason with the Pilgrims winning all five games.

            Despite being outshot 23-3 in the opening period, the Huskies found themselves in a scoreless tie after 20 minutes thanks to the goaltending of junior Kyle Shapiro (Ocean, N.J.). 

            The Pilgrims broke the scoreless tie at 6:18 of the second period when rookie Carlos Fornaris (Miami, Fla.) scored a short-handed goal off an assist from junior Joe Osako (Tokyo, Japan).  The goal was the eighth of the season for Fornaris.

            Special teams produced the Pilgrims second goal, this time on the power play, to make it 2-0.  Rookie William Riise (Charlottenlund, Denmark) lit the lamp for the seventh time this season at 14:16 after being set up by Fornaris and sophomore Connor Fries (Barnstable, Mass.).

            Sophomore Mike Whitehair (Victor, N.Y.) sealed the decision late in the third period with an unassisted goal at 16:23.

            Shapiro, an All-NEHC third team selection, finished the game with 49 saves.  Kilar, the NEHC Goaltender of the Year and All-NEHC first team pick, earned his fifth shutout of the season making 23 of his 26 saves over the final two periods.

            In the other quarterfinal round games Saturday night, third-seeded Babson College dispatched with sixth-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston, 7-3, and fourth-seeded Castleton University defeated fifth-seeded Skidmore College 7-2.  Top-seeded Norwich University, the number one ranked team in the nation, received a first-round bye. 

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