For the second year in a row, the Keene State College men’s club ice hockey team will head to the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) national tournament. On Sunday, Feb. 26, the Owls topped Northeastern University (NU) in overtime by a score of 4-3, earning a trip to the National Championships. Kurt Mitchell buried the first goal of the game with just about five minutes left in the first period. More action took place going both ways, but the first period came to a close with KSC up 1-0.

Shortly into the second period, the Owls went down a player and conceded, leveling the game at one. Goaltender Carlin Testa made several key saves throughout the second period, but it wasn’t enough to hold off NU, who tallied two more goals before the end of the second period.

KSC entered the third period down by a pair of goals until Cooper Hines scored a goal on the power play to bring the team within one. Over halfway into the third period, Andrew Pierce beat the NU goaltender to tie the game at 3-3. A strong performance from Testa throughout the game kept the score tied, sending it to overtime.

Northeastern had their chances in the overtime period, getting several shots off, but none of them got past Testa. Minutes later, Tucker Johnson scored the game-winning goal that sent KSC to the ACHA national championship.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com