Ice Hockey Topped 5-2 by UMass Dartmouth
Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University ice hockey team closed out first semester action this evening with a 5-2 setback at home against the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) ice hockey contest at Loring Arena.
With the win, the Corsairs improve to 5-2-2 on the season and 4-1-1 in the conference, while the Rams are now 1-9 overall and 0-6 in the MASCAC.
The Rams got on the board midway through the first on junior Eric Ward's (Haverhill, Mass.) third goal of the season. Ward scored in transition on a shot from the right wing that went just under the crossbar after receiving feeds from sophomore Dean Cavicchi (Plymouth, Mass.) and junior Jay Nicholls (Middleton, Mass.).
The Rams lead would be short lived as just 14 seconds later the Corsairs tallied the equalizer. The visitors quickly moved the puck into the offensive zone off the face off and Dave McDonald (Wakefield, Mass.) hit sophomore Shaun Walters (Plymouth, MI) with a pass and Walters slapped a shot in for his fourth of the season.
The Rams had a chance to break the tie with just over three minutes remaining in the first, but junior Daniel Miressi's (Monroe, Conn.) shot on the break deflected off the cross bar.
UMass Dartmouth would take the lead for good with 23 seconds left in the first as they converted another faceoff into a scoring opportunity. This time Walters laid a pass off to McDonald who connected for his seventh of the season.
Senior Phil Bronner (Wilbraham, Mass.) would tally a pair of second half goals for the Corsairs as they extended their lead to 4-1 after two. Bronner scored the game winner at 1:34 of the second and at 5:46 he deflected a rebound into the net over the Rams goalkeeper who was still on the ice after making the initial save.
Walters extended the Corsairs lead to 5-1 with his second of the game at 6:36 of the third. The Rams would add one more in the game's final minute as Miressi tallied his team leading 10th goal of the season off assists from sophomore Ryan McDonald (Anchorage, AK) and senior Ben Pacific (Marlborough, Mass.).
The Corsairs outshot the Rams 41-23 in the game and both teams went 0-for-1 on power play opportunities as there were just two penalties called in the game. Junior Dale Adams (Gardner, Mass.) was tagged with the loss between the pipes as he made 36 saves, while Ryan Williams (Milton, ON) secured the victory with 21 stops.
Both teams are off until after the New Year. The Rams travel to Franklin Pierce on January 5th at 7 p.m., while the Corsairs resume action on January 4th at the Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament.