HENNIKER, N.H. – The New England College men's ice hockey team picked up their second straight victory over visiting Skidmore College on Saturday at Lee Clement Arena in Henniker, New Hampshire in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action.  

THE BASICS 
Score: Skidmore 2, New England College 5 
Records: Thoroughbreds 7-10-0, 5-7-0 NEHC | Pilgrims 4-10-1, 3-6-1 NEHC 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Skidmore struck first in the opening period when junior Matthew Franzoi (Oakville, Ont.) found the back of the net with 6:07 left in the first. The Thoroughbreds outshot the Pilgrims 15-6 in the period. 
• The 'Grims would find the equalizer 2:13 into the second period when senior forward David Novotny (Boca Raton, Fla.) stole the puck behind the Skidmore net, and as the lone Pilgrim in the offensive zone, Novotny did it all himself wrapping around the net and putting NEC on the board. 
• With 2:42 left in the second, Novotny would score again as the senior received the puck directly in front of the Thoroughbred's net on a pass from sophomore center Paul Waldhauser (Klagenfurt, Austria); Novotny's first attempt would be saved by the keeper, but a quick second attempt would put the 'Grims up 2-1. 
• Just two minutes later, Novotny was not done. Novotny, on a fast break, passed the puck to a streaking Waldhauser who would fire off a shot on net but saved. Novotny, who had fallen to the ice after getting the pass off, quickly got right back up, picked up the rebound, and slapped in his third goal of the period for his first career hat trick. 
• NEC would enter the third period with a 3-1 lead, but a penalty would immediately hand Skidmore a power-play chance in the early goings of the final period. Skidmore's leading scorer senior Zach Lindewirth (Gillette, N.J.) made good on the power play with a goal with 17:10 left in the game to pull within one. 
• Three minutes later, a fastbreak for the 'Grims would see senior forward Jesper Tarkiainen (Naperville, Ill.) make a pretty pass through traffic to freshman forward Egor Osipik (Minsk, Belarus) who would find the back of the net to increase the NEC lead back to two, 4-2. 
• The Pilgrims would need to kill two minor penalties in the final five minutes of the game before also navigating a man-up opportunity as the visitors pulled their goalie. With 10 seconds left, NEC would capitalize on the open net as Osipik netted his second score of the game with both freshman defenseman Bryce Sturm (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) and senior defenseman Mattias Thorén (Stockholm, Sweden) earning their first assists of the season. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• NEC freshman goaltender Anthony Beaulieu (Lawrence, Mass.) made 39 saves to the tune of a .951 save percentage. 
• Sophomore goaltender Tommy Aitken (Winchester, Mass.) stopped 21 shots for Skidmore. 
• Shots on goal were 41-26 in favor of the visiting Thoroughbreds. 
• Novotny, with the hat trick, has now tied his career-high with nine goals this season with 10 games left in the regular season. He currently sits tied for third in the NEHC in goals. 
• Tarkiainen moved up to T-6th in the NEHC with his 11th assist of the season. 
• With his pair of third period scores, Osipik had his second two-goal game of his rookie campaign. 

UP NEXT 

• NEC is back on the ice on Friday night when they visit the Southern Maine Huskies for an NEHC matchup beginning at 7:00 PM in Gorham. 
• Skidmore has next weekend off before they host the Huskies of Southern Maine on January 31st. 

For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.