Ward’s Hat Trick Leads Ice Hockey to a 6-4 Victory over Stonehill

Framingham, Mass. – Senior forward Eric Ward (Haverhill, Mass.) picked up a hat trick and junior Tom Tracy (Wakefield, Mass.) chipped in a pair of goals as the Framingham State University ice hockey team defeated Stonehill College 6-4 this evening in non-conference action at Framingham's Loring Arena.   

The Rams improve their season mark to 4-3-1 with the victory, while the Skyhawks fall to 4-4.

Ward recorded four points in the game on three goals, including the game-winner, and an assist, while Tracy tallied his second and third goals of the season.  Junior Ryan McDonald (Anchorage, AK) and Brendan McCarron (Millbury, Mass.) each picked up three assists in the game, while senior Daniel Miressi (Monroe, Conn.) chipped in with two.

The Skyhawks received two points apiece from junior Kevin Aufiero (Canton, Mass.) and sophomore Robbie Dorgan (Ossining, NY) on a goal and a helper, while sophomore Travis Army (Englewood, Colo.) chipped in two on a pair of assists.

The Rams jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Tracy and senior Bo Driscoll (Chelmsford, Mass.) midway through the first period.  Dorgan tallied a power play goal for the Skyhawks at 11:31 to cut the Rams lead to 2-1 after one.

Sophomore Richard Harris (Grand Island, NY) tied the game with an unassisted marker at 8:02 of the second for the Skyhawks, but Ward put the Rams in the lead for good with his first of the game just 36 seconds later.

Tracy extended the Rams lead to 4-2 with a power play goal to open the third, but Stonehill cut the lead back to one with a power play goal of their own midway through the third.  Ward tacked on two more for the Rams to push the lead to 6-3 and Aufiero tacked on one for the Skyhawks with less than two minutes left in the game to reach the final margin.

Stonehill outshot the Rams 43-35 in the game and converted 2-of-6 power play opportunities, while the Rams converted 2-of-7 with the man advantage. Senior Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, CA) made 39 saves for the Rams en route to his fourth victory of the season, while Patrick Farrington was tagged with the loss despite making 29 stops.

The Rams are back in action on Thursday evening with a MASCAC contest at Plymouth State beginning at 6 p.m., while Skyhawks travel to Trinity on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.