Courtesy of Dave Geringer, UMass Dartmouth Sports Information Director
Photo Courtesy of UMass Dartmouth AV Photographic Services

NEW BEDFORD, MA- Freshman forward Joe Hill (Newburyport, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors) scored twice, including the game-winning goal in the waning seconds of the third period and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's hockey team went on to defeat visiting Nichols, 5-3, in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast Tournament Championship game at the Hetland Arena Saturday afternoon. The victory gave the Corsairs an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division III Hockey Championships.

Hill scored on a wild scramble in front of the goal, knocking the puck in from the crease and giving the Corsairs a 4-3 advantage with just 14.9 seconds left in regulation.  Senior forward Paul Garabedian (Belmont, MA/Belmont HS) and senior forward Jeff Grant (Burlington, MA/Austin Prep) assisted on the game-winner.

Hill was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

"What more can you say about the freshman, Joe Hill," said Corsair Head Coach John Rolli. "Two goals and the game's Most Outstanding Player.  I thought that game had overtime written all over it."

The Corsairs (18-8-1) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Hill tallied his first goal of the opening period, stuffing in a rebound off a shot from Garabedian at 18:01.

Nichols (20-7-1) would answer back in the second as junior forward Anthony Monte would sandwich a pair of goals around a goal from Corsair sophomore forward Billy Manning (Stoughton, MA/Jr. Bandits), who took a beautiful feed from sophomore defenseman Paul Moran (Rockville Centre, NY/Jr. Bulldogs) at 5:49.  Monte's first goal came via the power play and was assisted by freshman forward Will Munson and junior defenseman Jeff Bieber at 1:54.  His second came at 9:20 and was also assisted by Bieber.

UMass Dartmouth would take the lead in the third period on a backhand power play goal by junior forward Chris Shore (West Haven CT/Winchendon Academy), assisted by junior forward Nick Paquin (Warwick, RI/Winchendon Academy) and sophomore forward Matt Serino (Saugus, MA/Avon Old Farms) at 4:17.

The Bison responded just over two minutes later to tie the game, 3-3, when Munson tipped a pass from freshman defenseman Patrick Biron through the legs of Corsair junior goalie Jeff Green (Medway, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors).

The rest of the third period was nip and tuck between both teams until Hill's heroics.

Shore would add an empty netter, rounding out the scoring en route to the victory.

"Nichols played outstanding," said Rolli. "They were just as deserving.  We just got the bounce of the puck at the end."

UMass Dartmouth improved to 18-8-1 with the victory, while Nichols dropped to 20-7-1 with the defeat. The NCAA Division III Championships berth is the third in a row for the Corsairs, who will learn their fate when the pairings for the tournament are released late Sunday night. The game was the final action of the season for the Bison.