Strong Third Period Leads UMass Dartmouth Past Ice Hockey 7-6
Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University surrendered a pair of third period goals as they were defeated 7-6 by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at Loring Arena.
With the win, the Corsairs improve to 3-5-3 on the season and 2-2-2 in the conference, while the Rams slip to 2-7 on the year and are now 1-5 in the MASCAC.
UMass Dartmouth grabbed a 2-0 advantage with a pair power play goals 25 seconds apart in the opening minutes of the game. Sophomore Jerry Laasko struck first at 3:28 as he converted a shot from the point off a feed from Mike Sones. Senior Brandon Gilmore doubled the lead when he converted on the wing off a feed from Laasko at 3:53. The Rams cut the deficit in half just over a minute later when junior Mark Essery (Rockfall, Conn.) knocked home a rebound in front of the net.
The Rams tallied a pair of goals in the closing two minutes of the first period to take a 3-2 lead into the first intermission. Freshman Brent Barber (Tampa, Fla.) notched a power play goal off a feed from senior Rich Hill (Tampa, Fla.) with 1:55 remaining and senior Ricky O'Connor (North Andover, Mass.) followed 23 seconds later with an unassisted goal in transition putting the Rams on top.
The Rams pushed the lead to two goals on a power play tally from sophomore Tyler Colacchio (Bellingham, Mass.) opening the second period, but UMass Dartmouth answered with a power play marker of their own two minutes later from Sones to cut the lead back to one. Each team would tack on two more in the frame with Colacchio completing a hat trick for the Rams with 1:27 remaining giving the Rams a 6-5 lead after two.
The third period was all UMass Dartmouth as they outshot the Rams 19-16 in the frame. Sones tallied his second of the game on the power play just 1:27 into the third tying the game at 6-6. The game remained tied until the closing minutes when Gilmore intercepted a pass by the Rams in the offensive zone and fired a shot into the back of the net for the game winner with 5:35 remaining in the game.
The Corsairs held a slim 49-48 edge in shots for the game and converted on 4-of-7 power play opportunities, while the Rams converted on 2-of-4. Sophomore Drew Michals earned the victory for the Corsairs allowing six goals and making 42 stops. Freshman Adam Calabrese (Philadelphia, PA) allowed two goals in just under 11 minutes of action for the Rams with four saves before leaving the game after a collision in front of the net. Junior Alessio Muggli (Rueti, Switzerland) closed out the game for the Rams making 38 saves and allowing five goals including the game winner.
The Rams are back in action next Wednesday night when they close the semester with a non-conference game at Assumption at 7:35 p.m., while the Corsairs are idle until January 9th when they host Worcester Stat at 4 p.m.