Ice Hockey Rallies for 5-5 OT Tie with Westfield State
Framingham, Mass. – Sophomore forward Daniel Miressi (Monroe, Conn.) tallied the game-tying goal with one second left in regulation as the Framingham State University ice hockey team battled Westfield State University to a 5-5 overtime draw this evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) ice hockey action at Framingham's Loring Arena.
With the draw the Rams are now 3-13-4 overall on the season and 2-10-3 in the conference, while the Owls are now 5-12-4 on the year and 3-9-3 in the MASCAC.
Sophomore forward Tom Tracy (Wakefield, Mass.) tallied a pair of goals on the night for the Rams, while classmate Jay Nicholls (Middleton, Mass.) picked up a goal and an assist for two points in the contest.
The Owls were led by freshman forward Steve Evans (Kingston, ON) who tallied a hat trick in the game. Evans tallied a pair of goals on the power play as the Owls converted 3-of-8 opportunities with the man advantage. Junior Jason Nelson (Raleigh, NC) picked up two points in the game for the visitors with a goal and an assist.
Westfield took a 1-0 lead after the first period on Evan's first marker of the game midway through the period as both teams sent 17 shots on goal in the frame. Nelson assisted on Evan's goal.
The Owls extended their lead to 3-0 with a pair of power play goals in the opening minutes of the second. Evans added his second of the game at 1:06 and Nelson followed up with his power play tally at 5:10. Tracy cut the deficit back to two goals for the Rams with his first of the game with 48 seconds left in the period.
The Rams offense exploded for three goals in under three minutes to start the third and take their only lead of the game. Nicholls scored just eight seconds into the frame to cut the Owls lead to 3-2. Tracy added an unassisted power play goal at 2:33 to tie the game and ten seconds later freshman Brendan McCarron (Millbury, Mass.) scored unassisted to give the Rams a 4-3 lead.
Evans completed the hat trick at 5:26 of the third to knot the game at 4-4 and freshman Dan Loughlin (Methuen, Mass.) put the Owls back in the lead with a goal at 9:28 of the third. The game would remain 5-4 in favor of the visitors until Miressi's tally off an Eric Ward (Haverhill, Mass.) assist with one second left in regulation.
The Owls outshot the Rams 4-2 in the extra session, but neither team could find the back of the net and the game ended in a 5-5 draw. Both teams took 43 shots on goal in the game with Framingham State goalie Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, CA) making 38 saves and his Owl counterpart Ian Wilson (Tulsa, OK) also made 38 saves in the contest.
Both teams return to MASCAC action on Saturday with the Rams traveling to Worcester State at 6:30 p.m. and the Owls traveling to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at 4:30 p.m.