UMass Dartmouth Holds Off Men’s Ice Hockey

New Bedford , Mass. – A pair of points by junior Casey Shea (Woburn, Mass.) pushed UMass Dartmouth's winning streak to four games as the hosts skated past Framingham State 4-3 in MASCAC competition at Hetland Arena on Saturday evening.

With the win UMass Dartmouth improves to 7-4-0, 4-2-0 MASCAC while the Rams are now 1-8-0, 0-6-0 MASCAC

Framingham State jumped out to an early lead, less than five minutes from the opening puck drop. Mark Essery (Rockfall, Conn.) fired a slap shot from the slot, as Drew Michals (Newton, Mass.) made the initial stop before the puck trickled over the goal line.

Before the end of the period, Mike Sones (Waterdown, Ont.) and David Skarbek (Hyannis, Mass.) found Shea who put it in the back of the net. The Corsairs then overtook the lead less than two minutes later, as Steven Leonard (Rockaway, N.Y.) tallied his third goal in four games. Jerry Laakso (Tampere, Finland) and Brendan McDonough (Wilmington, Mass.) picked up the assists on the play.

Tyler Colacchio (Bellingham, Mass.) tied the game for the Rams to start the second period, after knocking in the puck with a pile in front of the net. The score would not stay knotted up for long, as 70 seconds later, senior Kyle Zacharewicz (Ludlow, Mass.) flicked the puck over the sprawling Ram goalkeeper. UMass Dartmouth extended its advantage on the power play, as Brandon Berkley (Scottsdale, Ariz.) took the pass from Shea to pick up his fourth goal of the season. The Rams cut the UMass Dartmouth lead in half as Ryan McDonough (Dorchester, Mass.) scored on the redirection, but couldn't find the back of the net another time for the equalizer.

Framingham State is in action next Tuesday, hosing Assumption at 7:30 p.m.

The Corsairs break for the remainder of December, before returning to action on Jan. 8, when they travel to Holy Cross to take on the Worcester State Lancers for a 5 p.m tilt.

*Release courtesy of UMD sports information