Warminster, PA. – The third ranked Bryn Athyn College men's ice hockey team defeated #4 Fairfield 5-2 in the first game of the Empire Classic Friday night.
Scott Witmyer led the Lions with two goals. Travis McCurdy scored one goal and one assist. Anthony Notofrancesco had two assists. Nikita Klinisovs and Jayson Marbach scored one goal each.
McCurdy picked up the puck from the right circle in the defensive zone. He took the puck with speed to the offensive zone, took a shot and hit the goalie in the pad, while Witmyer was trailing the slot and picked up the rebound and scored to put the Lions up 1-0 at the 7:06 mark. With two minutes left in the first period, the Stags scored off a deflected shot to tie the game at 1-1.
Both teams stayed even, till the 3:20 mark of the second period. Klinisovs scored for the Lions, after picking up the puck in behind the net, and pushing it off Fairfield's goalie's pad and into the net to lift the Lions 2-1. But with a 1:14 left in the period, the Stags tied the game for the second time before heading into the last break of the game.
Bryn Athyn took control of the third period, scoring three unanswered goals to win the game. Witmyer scored the winning goal, pushing in a loose puck in front of the net at the 19:34 mark. McCurdy scored off a hard rebound shot from Cullen McNally to lift the Lions 4-2. Marbach scored an insurance goal with three minutes left in the game to bring home a 5-2 win for the Lions.
Steven Altman made 16 saves in net for the Lions.
Bryn Athyn takes on #5 California of PA tomorrow at 4:00 pm in game two of the Empire Classic.