Ice Hockey Heads into Break with 9-4 Loss at UMass Dartmouth

North Dartmouth, Mass. - Senior forward Mike Owens (South Boston, Mass.) netted a hat trick as the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's hockey team defeated visiting Framingham State, 9-4, in a Massachusetts Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Stephan Hetland Memorial Ice Arena Saturday.

The Corsairs struck first at the 13-minute mark of the first period. Junior defender Zach Hepler (Sarver, PA) ripped a shot from the point that beat Rams sophomore goaltender Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, CA), giving UMD a 1-0 lead.

Just over two minutes later, Owens split the Rams defense and left a puck in front of the goal crease where senior forward Rob Dudley (Douglas, Mass.) snuck a shot past Cafrelli, pushing the Corsairs lead to 2-0. Three minutes later, and 10 seconds into a power play, freshman defender Steve Ginand (Milford, Mass.) fired a shot from the point that was deflected off an FSU defender's stick and into the goal, making it 3-0 UMD after the first period.

In the opening minutes of the second period, junior defender Matt Correia (Acushnet, Mass.) put a shot on goal, but junior forward William Colclough (Naples, FL) redirected the attempt past Cafrelli, increasing the UMD lead to 4-0.

At the 15-minute mark of the second period, the Corsairs quickly worked the puck out of their zone to center ice where Dudley delivered a touch pass to a streaking Owens, who took the puck and beat FSU sophomore goalie Dale Adams (Gardner, Mass.) stick side, making it 5-0 going into the third period.

The Rams broke their scoreless drought five minutes into the third period. With a 5-on-3 advantage, Rams freshman forward Ryan McDonald (Anchorage, AK) tucked a shot by UMD junior goalie Ryan Williams (Milton, ON) on the power play.

UMD followed the Framingham State goal by scoring three goals in three minutes. Owens had two goals, book ending a blast from junior forward Dave McDonald (Wakefield, Mass.).

The Rams added three late goals from senior forward Aran Ward (Dunstable, Mass.), sophomore forward Eric Ward (Haverhill, Mass.), and a power play effort from junior forward Ben Pacific (Marlborough, Mass.). Pacific, Ward and McDonald all finished with a goal and an assist in the game for the Ramss.  Colclough chipped in his second goal of the game during the three-goal outburst by Framingham State, en route to the 9-4 victory for the Corsairs.

The Corsairs outshot the Rams, 40-26. Williams made 22 saves, while Cafrelli stopped 20 shots and Adams made 11 saves for FSU. UMD junior goalie Nate Eagan (Hingham, Mass.) stopped one shot and gave up three goals in relief of Williams.

UMass Dartmouth had nine penalties for 18 minutes and Framingham State had three penalties for nine minutes. UMD converted 2-of-3 power play opportunities, while FSU was successful on 3-of-9 chances.

UMass Dartmouth improved to 6-3-1 and 4-1-1 in the MASCAC with the victory, while Framingham State fell to 1-6-2 and 1-4-1 in the MASCAC with the defeat. UMD will take time off for the holidays and return to action when they host Babson Saturday, January 7th. The Rams will do likewise and visit Western New England January 5th.