Western New England Capitalizes on Power Play to Defeat Ice Hockey

Framingham, Mass. – The Western New England University ice hockey team tallied three power play goals, two in a three goal second period, to defeat the Framingham State University Rams 5-2 this evening in a non-conference ice hockey contest at Loring Arena.

With the win, the Golden Bears improve to 7-10 on the season, while the Rams slip to 2-13-1.

Junior Chris Connors (Clifton Park, NY) and freshman Will Preston (Carmel, Ind.) picked up two points apiece in the game for Western New England on a goal and an assist, while juniors John Kelly (Staten Island, NY), Brian Prost (Parma, OH) and Alan Martin (Monson, Mass.) all tallied single markers.

The Rams were led by sophomore Ryan McDonald (Anchorage, AK) who tallied both Framingham goals, while junior Tom Tracy (Wakefield, Mass.), sophomores Dylan Cosford (Windsor, ON) and Brendan McCarron (Millbury, Mass.) and freshman Melvin Rose (Crofton, MD) all chipped in with assists.

The Golden Bears took a 1-0 lead in the closing minute of the first period as Martin tallied a power play goal with 15 seconds left in the period.

McDonald tied the game just under four minutes into the second for the Rams, but the Golden Bears rattled off three goals in three minutes, including two in under 15 seconds, to take control of the game.  Connors scored a power play goal at 5:44 and Kelly followed with a marker at 5:55 to give the visitors a two goal cushion.  Preston followed with a power play goal at 8:23 to push the lead to 4-1.

McDonald cut the lead back to two with his second of the game late in the second, but that was as close as the Rams would get as the Golden Bears added an empty net goal in the final minute to reach the final score.

The Golden Bears went 3-for-7 on the power play, while the Rams went 0-for-6 with the man advantage.  Both teams fired 40 shots on goal in the game.  Tim Carr picked up the victory for the visitors making 38 saves, while junior Herbert Kyles (Overland Park, KS) was tagged with the loss for the Rams as he made 35 stops.

The Rams return to action on Thursday evening when they host Salem State in MASCAC matchup beginning at 7:30 p.m., while the Golden Bears host Wentworth also on Thursday at 7:10 p.m.