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Senior Mike Kozlowski had two goals and one assist in the final game of his intercollegiate career at the Johnson Ice Rink.
 
Senior Mike Kozlowski had two goals and one assist in the final game of his intercollegiate career at the Johnson Ice Rink.
  
 
MIT Advances to NECHA Semifinals with 6-3 Win Over Western Connecticut

Engineers Squander Three-Goal Lead; Regroup with Late Surge

Feb. 28, 2008

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Six different Engineers registered multiple points and freshman goaltender Stephen Yablonski picked up his first career postseason win, as MIT downed Western Connecticut State University, 6-3, in a NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Association (NECHA) Conference A Quarterfinal game on Wednesday night at the Johnson Ice Rink. The top-seeded Engineers squandered an early three-goal lead as the visiting Colonials put up a spirited comeback, but the hosts responded to score the contest's final three goals and put the result beyond doubt.

With the victory, MIT (13-4-1) advances to the NECHA Conference A Semifinals, where it will meet Westfield State College. The Engineers and the Owls have met twice previously this season, with Westfield State earning a 6-4 win in the first match-up and the teams skating to a 4-4 tie in the most recent encounter. The squads will face off at 5:20 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 1, at the Conway Arena in Nashua, N.H.

Western Connecticut ended its season with a record of 4-17-1.

Rookie Cory Phinney had two goals and two assists to pace the Engineers, while Mike Kozlowski (two goals, one assist) and Ryan Ballentine (three assists) each had three-point performances.

The Cardinal and Gray dominated the early proceedings on Wednesday night, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the opening period. Nick LaBounty started the scoring with his team-leading 22nd goal of the season at 11:57, with the assists going to Kozlowski and Ballentine. Just over one minute later, Dustin Kendrick found the back of the net with help from Phinney and Kevin Farino, while Phinney himself scored the third at 1:56 courtesy of assists from Ballentine and Farino.

However, what seemed like a comfortable 3-0 lead for MIT evaporated over the course of a 20-minute stretch spanning the second and third periods. Matt Regan scored unassisted to put the Owls on the board at 11:11 of the middle stanza, while Andrew O'Leary's tally, assisted by Steve Price and Bill Adreani with just 30 seconds remaining in the second period, sliced the deficit to 3-2. Midway through the third, Western Connecticut's comeback was seemingly complete, as Dan Corini fed Mike Ryan for a shorthanded marker to knot the score at 3-3.

Yet, as quickly as the Engineers had seen their advantage erased, they regained the upper-hand with three unanswered goals to put the contest out of reach. Phinney's second strike of the night with 8:09 on the clock proved to be the eventual game-winner, with Ballentine and Nicholas Maietta earning the assists. Kozlowski scored at 4:23 (from Maietta and Phinney) and 0:09 (from LaBounty) to finish off the scoring and assure MIT of its spot in the conference semifinals.

Yablonski earned the victory between the pipes for MIT, playing the full 60 minutes in his first-ever intercollegiate playoff contest. Junior Steve Grota was in goal for Western Connecticut.