Cards Open with 2 Wins as Covington '12 Leads "D" ; Killeen '10, Citrin '12 & Froats '12 Spark "O"

Teddy Citrin '12 (#20, scoring goal in main photo) netted four goals and added an assist as Wesleyan defeated visiting Salve Regina, 8-3, in the first-ever meeting between the two schools Sat., March 6. Wesleyan, ranked 11th in the latest USILA poll, then hosted N.Y. Maritime Wed., March 9 in its next start, winning that game by a resounding 14-1 margin.

It took nearly the entire first period for the Cardinals to break the ice against Salve. Citrin scored his first goal with just 12 seconds remaining in the first stanza on a sharp-angled, shoulder-high shot from the left side. Wesleyan tacked on four more in the second period for a 5-0 halftime lead and carried an 8-0 margin into the final quarter. Salve finally cracked the Wesleyan armor with 4:40 remaining in the game and ended the contest on a three-goal run against the third Cardinal netminder used in the contest, Mark Simmons '13, who also made three saves while playing the final 7:18 of the contest.

With starting keeper Grant Covington '12 (#35, photo insert upper right) holding Salve at bay for 40 minutes while making 11 saves, Colin Campbell '10 covered the net for 12 minutes of shutout work between the third and fourth quarters without needing to make a stop.

Though it took the Cardinals more than 14 minutes to score in the first period, they upped the gap to 2-0 just 32 seconds into the second period as Citrin converted a Jon Killeen '10 (#7, photo insert upper left) pass to the middle into a tally. Killeen, who finished the game with two goals and two assists for four points, returned the favor at the 7:55 mark, scoring on a low shot off a Citrin pass. John Froats '12 and Pete Modera '11 closed out the second-period scoring for the 5-0 Wesleyan lead. A pair of Citrin goals just 12 second apart early in the third stanza followed by a Kileen marker 2:20 later put the finishing touches on Wesleyan?s scoring, spotting the host its 8-0 bulge with 25 minutes left. Wesleyan substituted freely the rest of the way as 34 Cardinals saw action, compared with 21 for Salve.

Using a 55-15 margin in shots, Wesleyan rolled to a comfortable victory over visiting SUNY Maritime. Wesleyan built a 7-0 lead at halftime as Maritime was held without a shot on goal. The Cardinals doubled their scoring output during the second half while Maritime averted a shutout late in the third period with its only goal of the contest.

Wesleyan got started right from the opening faceoff as preseason All-American Matt Ward '10 won the first of 11 faceoffs (he lost four), scooped up the ground ball, passed to Killeen who hit Citrin in stride for a goal just eight seconds in. Killeen finished the game with six points on two goals and four assists. John Froats '12 led Wesleyan in goals on the evening with four while Conor Malangone '11 added three. Citrin finished the game with a pair of tallies and Lonny Blumenthal '10 chipped in with three helpers. Killeen now leads the Cardinals in scoring this year with 10 points on four goals and six assists.

When Maritime got its only goal at 5:53 of the third period, it was the first goal of the year allowed by Covington, who had three saves in his 43 minutes of work. He has yielded just one goal with 14 saves in 83 minutes of action this season. Campbell minded the net for 14 minutes without seeing a shot on goal and Simmons played the final three minutes with one save.

This was just the second meeting between the teams as Wesleyan won the opener at Maritime, 17-2, last year.

Wesleyan begins NESCAC play on Saturday, March 13, hosting Bowdoin.

(photos courtesy of Tony Pratt P'10)