Men's Ice Hockey Blanked at Salem State
Salem, Mass. -- Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, RI) scored twice and Brandon Platt (Pittsburgh, PA) led the Vikings with four points as the Vikings earned a 5-0 victory over the Framingham State Rams in MASCAC action on Thursday night at Rockett Arena. Salem State improves to 13-5 on the season and 9-2 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference while the Rams drop to 3-13-1 and 2-8-1 in the MASCAC.
The Vikings wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as they tallied a goal on their first shot of the game as Platt raced down the ice to get past the Rams' defense for the easy forehand goal. Salem State dominated in all phases of the game in the first period as they held Framingham State to only four shots on goal while they fired off 14. Midway through the first period the Vikings added to their lead when Derek Makimaa (Swartz Creek, MI) took an uncontested wrist shot from the slot that trickled past the pads of Adam Calabrese (Philadelphia, PA) that was tapped home by Daniel Campbell (Waterloo, ONT) to give Salem State an early 2-0 lead.
The Vikings continued to roll in the second period as they were granted a two-minute power play in the opening minutes. Cam Moniz (Seekonk, MA) then found the back of the net with a wrist shot that snuck by Calabrese's blocker side. Gabriel Cromp (Montreal, QC) and Platt were credited with the assists. Less than a minute later Salem State took a 4-0 lead when Bettencourt finished a beautifully placed one-time pass from Brody Heleno (Mississaga, ONT) that whizzed past Calabrese's mask. Bettencourt wasn't finished scoring in the period as he added some insurance with another rebound goal for the Vikings that was initially saved by a diving Calabrese. Despite allowing five goals in the first two periods, Calabrese made some spectacular saves, including denying Platt short side with his stick while on the opposite side of the crease late in the second period.
After putting in enough work in the first two periods, the Vikings sailed to a 5-0 victory as they closed the door on the Rams in the final period. Salem State did not add any more goals despite being up a man advantage for nearly the entire period.
Calabrese finished the night with an impressive 41 saves while Marcus Zelzer (Green Bay, WI), who has three shutouts on the season made 11 saves as he blanked the Rams for the second time this year.
Bettencourt tallied two goals and an assist while Heleno picked up two assists. The Vikings outshot Framingham State 53-12.
Salem State will travel to Worcester State on January 30th to take on the Lancers at 7:00 p.m. The Rams will resume action on January 30th as well when they play the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth at 4:00 p.m.
*Release courtesy of Salem State sports information