Posted: Nov 15, 2014

Men's Ice Hockey Falls in 4-2 MASCAC Action

Salem, Mass. -- John Needham (Medford, MA) scored a goal and had two assists to help the Salem State University Vikings (1-2) earn their first win with a 4-2 victory over the Rams of Framingham State (0-3-1) on Saturday afternoon at Rockett Arena. The loss keeps the Rams winless at 0-2-1 in the Massachusetts Collegiate Athletic Conference, while the Vikings improve to 1-2 in conference.

Framingham State got on the board first when Ryan McDonald (Anchorage, AK) went top-shelf on a 2-on-1 break with an assist from Brendan McCaron (Millbury, MA). Salem State countered with five minutes left in the period when Mackenzie Cook's (Reading, MA) shot clanked off the post and into the net on a power-play, Needham was credited with the assist. Following a 10-minute game-misconduct by the Rams, Salem State opened up the offense, scoring back-to-back goals in the final minutes of the first take a 3-1 lead. Needham scored on assists by Cook and Michael Chen (Rockville, MD), and he assisted Cameron Banwell's (Toronto, ON) goal along with Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, RI).

The Rams edged closer in the second when Vaughn Guetens (Cheshire, CT) scored a power-play goal on assists from McCarron and Keith Barnaby (Leominster, MA). However, the Vikings pushed their lead back to two when Kristofer Faric (Whitby, ONT) put back a rebound from in front of the net to make it 4-2 late in the period. The goal was assisted by Brad Jones (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) and Chris Mastropietro (Revere, MA).

The third period was scoreless as both sides continued to rack up penalty minutes before the Vikings notched a 4-2 victory.

The Vikings held a 41-25 advantage in shots.

Salem State's Jason Pucciarelli (Newmarket, ONT) racked up 23 saves in the win while the Rams Alessio Muggli (Rueti,. Switzerland) stopped 37 shots.

The Vikings will play their next game at 7:00 PM on Thursday at UMass-Darmouth. The Rams will also play again Thursday at the Hart Recreation Center at 8:15 PM against Worcester State University.

*Release courtesy of Salem St. sports information*