Late Goal Lifts Ice Hockey to 4-3 Victory over Salem State
Framingham, Mass. – Junior forward Ryan McDonald (Anchorage, AK) tallied a pair of goals including the game winner on a penalty shot with less than five minutes remaining in the game as the Framingham State University ice hockey team knocked off conference leader Salem State 4-3 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at Loring Arena.
With the victory the Rams improve to 10-8-4 on the year and 8-5-3 in the MASCAC. The Rams are now just one point behind the Vikings in the conference standings. The Vikings are now 12-9-2 on the year and 9-5-2 in the MASCAC.
Salem State grabbed a 2-0 lead after one on goals by Eric Defelice and Kristofer Faric, but the Rams answered with a pair of goals in the second to tie the game. Senior Eric Ward (Haverhill, Mass.) notched his 12th of the season on the power play just three minutes in and McDonald found the back of the net for his first of the game five minutes later.
Senior Tom Tracy (Wakefield, Mass.) gave the Rams their first lead of the game midway through the third with a power play goal off assists from Cameron Hoffman (Fort Stevens, WA) and Vaughn Guetens (Cheshire, Conn.).
Chad Goodwin tied the game once again for the visitors with an unassisted tally at 14:29 of the third, but less than a minute later McDonald would convert the penalty shot for the game winner.
The Vikings outshot the Rams 37-24 in the game including a 16-8 edge in the third period. The Rams converted on 2-of-4 power play attempts, while the Vikings converted on 1-of-5. Freshman Alessio Muggli (Rueti, Switzerland) recorded his second victory between the pipes making 34 saves, while Joe Cerulo made 20 stops for the Vikings.
The Rams are back in action on Thursday evening at Fitchburg State at 7 p.m.