Ice Hockey Earns Fourth Seed in MASCAC Tournament
Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University ice hockey team will be making their first appearance in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Ice Hockey Championship Tournament this year as the fourth seed.
The Rams made a remarkable under turnaround under fifth year head coach T.J. Brown finishing the regular season 10-10-4 overall and 8-7-3 in the MASCAC. The Rams had a combined three wins and six ties in the conference the last two seasons and improved their win total to eight with three ties. The MASCAC Ice Hockey Tournament begin with the inception of MASCAC ice hockey in 2009-10 and this season marks the first time the Rams qualified for the tournament as only six of the seven conference teams make the tournament each year.
The fourth seed Rams will host fifth seed Fitchburg State University (11-13-1, 8-9-1 MASCAC) in one quarterfinal match-up on Saturday, March 1st at Loring Arena with the puck dropping at 7:40 p.m. The winner will advance to face top seed Salem State University, who earned a first round bye, on Tuesday, March 4th in Salem at 7p.m. Saturday's other quarterfinal will feature third seed Westfield State University hosting sixth seed Worcester State at 5:35 p.m. on Saturday with the winner advancing to face second seed Plymouth State in the semifinals.
The Rams were led by the due of junior forwards Ryan McDonald (Anchorage, AK) and Brendan McCarron (Millbury, Mass.). McDonald led the Rams with 27 points on 12 goals and 15 assists including a pair of game-winning markers. McCarron tallied a team-high 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points on the season with a pair of game-winners. Senior Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, CA) recorded eight victories between the pipes for the Rams with a 3.43 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.