Four First Period Goals Propels UMass Dartmouth to 6-2 Win over Ice Hockey
Framingham, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's ice hockey team tallied four first period goals en route to a 6-2 victory over the Framingham State University Rams in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) ice hockey action this evening at Framingham's Loring Arena.
With the win, the Corsairs are alone in second place in the MASCAC at 12-5-1 overall and 8-3-1 in the conference, while the Rams fall to 3-11-3 overall and 2-8-2 in the MASCAC.
Sophomore forward Daniel Miressi (Monroe, Conn.) tallied both Ram goals in the game, while the Corsairs were led by Ryan Ruddock (Amesbury, Mass.), Mike Owens (South Boston, Mass.) and Greg Girtatos (Tyngsboro, Mass.) who accounted for a goal and a helper apiece in the contest.
UMass Dartmouth jumped out to the early just under a minute into the game on Owen's 14th goal of the season.
The Rams tied the score five minutes later as Miressi was taken down by a Corsair defender on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. Miressi went stick side and tallied his fourth marker of the season evening the game at 1-1 with 14:01 left in the first.
The Corsairs would take the lead for good with three goals in three minute span later in the period. Girtatos put the Corsairs ahead with his goal at 12:30 of the first. Ruddock connected on the game-winner at 14:57 of the first and just 25 seconds later junior Nick Marquis (Londonderry, NH) tallied a power goal giving the Corsairs a 4-1 lead after one.
UMass Dartmouth extended their lead to 5-1 eight minutes into the second period on freshman Jason Effertz's (Oceanside, CA) first collegiate goal. Miressi added his second of the game off assists from junior Ben Pacific (Marlborough, Mass.) and sophomore Eric Ward (Haverhill, Mass.) late in the second to send the game into the second intermission with the Rams trailing 5-2.
The Rams offense came out firing in the third period and they nearly cut the deficit to two goals just over five minutes into the period, but the goal was waved off because the net had come loose.
UMass Dartmouth's Stephen Laliberte (East Falmouth, Mass.) tallied his first goal of the season with four minutes left in the game to reach the final margin of 6-2.
The Rams outshot the Corsairs 29-23 in the game and were 0-for-7 on the power play, while UMass Dartmouth was 1-of-3 with the man advantage. Sophomore Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, CA) picked up the loss between the pipes for the Rams making six saves and surrendering four goals before giving way to sophomore Dale Adams (Gardner, Mass.) who made 11 saves in 44 minutes of work. Junior Ryan Williams (Milton, ON) picked up his 10th win of the season allowing two goals while making 27 saves.
The Rams return to action on Thursday when they host Fitchburg State University at 7:30 p.m., while the Corsairs host Stonehill on Tuesday at 7 p.m.