Salem State Holds Off Ice Hockey for 4-2 Win

Salem, Mass. - The Salem State Vikings scored three unanswered goals in the second period to knock off the Framingham State Rams 4-2 in a MASCAC matchup on Thursday evening at Rockett Arena.

Following a scoreless first period Salem State came out and pressured Framingham State in their zone right from the drop of the puck. However, it was the Rams who struck for the first goal of the game. A missed shot by the Vikings set up a two-on-one opportunity for the visitors. Jon Vaillancourt (La Valle, WI) took his defender away from the net and set up Dan Bogdan (Westfield, Mass) who deposited the pass into the back of the net for a 1-0 Framingham State lead at the 3:22 mark.

Josh Franklin (Wrentham, Mass.) responded for Salem State six minutes later when he tied the game on assists from Brian Hanafin (Burlington, Mass.) and Mark Macdonald (Norwell, Mass.). Derek Crocker (Wakefield, Mass.) gave the Vikings their first lead when he knocked in a pass in front of the net for a 2-1 Salem State lead. Alex Molnar (Nitra Slovakia) and Hanafin were each credited with an assist.

Mike Genovese (Hingham, Mass.) increased the lead to 3-1 with a blast that beat net minder Terence Sullivan (Shirley,Mass.). Salem State outshot the Rams 25-5 in the decisive second period. 

Eric Ward (Haverhill, Mass.) gave Framingham a spark when he scored a power-play goal at the 11:02 mark of the third period to make it a 3-2 game. The Vikings were able to hold on to the one-goal lead until Mike Genovese scored an empty-net goal with forty-four seconds remaining to ice the game.

Sullivan made 36 saves in the loss while his Salem State counterpart James LacCour (Silver Spring, MD) stopped 26 shots for the Vikings, who owned a 40-28 shot advantage in the game.

Salem State improves to 16-5-2, and 10-4-2 in the MASCAC while Framingham State is now 4-15-1, and 4-11-1 in conference.

Salem State will host Westfield State at 2 p.m. on Saturday, while Framingham State will travel to Plymouth State on Saturday evening at 7:35.

Release courtesy of SSU Sports Information.