Ice Hockey Drops MASCAC Opener 5-3 to Westfield State
Framingham, Mass. - The Westfield State College ice hockey team scored four goals in the first nine minutes en route to a 5-3 Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) win over Framingham State at Loring Arena tonight. With the win the Owls improve to 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in conference, while the Rams fall to 0-2-1 overall and 0-1 in the MASCAC.
Senior forward Casey Mignone (Ramsey, NJ) got the Owls going right out of the gate as he collected a loose puck in front of the net and knocked it home at the five minute mark. Just over a minute later junior Dennis Zak (Dover, NJ) extended the Owls lead to 2-0 as his shot from the point found the back of the net at 6:10. Freshman Jeff Callahan (Londonderry, NH) scored his first of the season at 8:02 and junior Ted Battaglia (Lake Hopatcong, NJ) scored 53 seconds later giving the Owls a comfortable 4-0 lead just 8:55 into the game.
The Rams cut into the Owls lead as senior Joe Hurley (Charlestown, Mass.) scored an unassisted goal off an assist from senior Jeremy Schmidt at 18:02 in the first.
The Owls outshot the Rams 37-28 for the game and were able to tack on another goal in the second period as Jason Nelson (Raleigh, NC) scored his first of the season.
The Rams chipped away at the Owls lead and pulled within two goals in the third. Jason Anderson (Arden Hills, MN) scored at 9:13 off an assist from Brett Casavant (Gardner, Mass.) to cut the Owls lead to 5-2. Trevor Johnson (Anchorage, AK) added a power play goal at 11:10 to pull the Rams within two scores but that was as close as they would get. Hurley and senior Josh Williams (Upper Marlboro, MD) assisted on Johnson's goal.
Westfield State goalie Ray Monroe (Shrewsbury, Mass.) made 25 saves and picked up his second win of the season. Terence Sullivan (Shirley, Mass.) came on in relief in net for the Rams and made 30 saves.
The Rams return to action on Thursday night when they host Fitchburg State at 7:20 p.m., while the Owls travel to UMass Dartmouth on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.