DANBURY, Conn. - Western Connecticut State used a three-goal second period to take down men's ice hockey on Saturday afternoon, splitting the season series and sending the Pilgrims to 5-8 in Little East Conference (LEC) action. 

NEC took an early lead in the first period as freshman Jack Brennan (Hingham, Mass.) tallied his second goal of the weekend with 14:49 left in the opening frame. Freshman Jack Ohlund (Lakeville, Minn.) and senior Graham Hassan (Pinckney, Mich.) were credited with the assists. 

WestConn responded just 11 seconds into the second period, tying the game at 1-1 on a Drew Coady goal. Four minutes later, the Wolves were on the power-play, hunting for the go-ahead goal, but it was the Pilgrims who came up with a short-handed score from junior Gunnar Sibley (Monticello, Minn.). He and sophomore Egor Osipik (Minsk, Belarus) connected for the third time in their last two games. 

Scott McNulty came through with a power-play goal with 6:47 to play in the second to knot the game back up at 2-a-piece. The go-ahead goal the Wolves were seeking earlier finally came with 2:20 left in the second as Tyler Gobel netted the eventual game-winner. 

The Pilgrims outshot the Wolves 39-19 on the day, including 17-3 in the final period, but were unable to find the goal they needed to send the game to overtime. WestConn's Liam Lane had 37 saves in the game while senior Danny Miscavish (Macomb, Mich.) made 16 stops in his fourth start of the season. 

NEC returns to the ice next Friday, February 6th, as they visit UMass-Dartmouth for a 5:30 PM tilt to kick off an important weekend for the Pilgrims. 

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