UMass Dartmouth Ice Hockey Falls to Worcester State, 6-3

Worcester, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's men's ice hockey team returned to action on Thursday after a month-long break. They traveled to Worcester State for a MASCAC contest, which resulted in a 6-3 loss for the Corsairs. 

UMass Dartmouth falls to 3-8-2 on the season, with a 2-4-1 conference record, while the Lancers improve to 5-7 overall and a MASCAC record of 5-2. 

The first period was all Worcester State, led by sophomore Shane Prifrel, who scored the first two of his three goals on the night. Senior Petr Staif also slapped in a goal, and WSU led UMD 3-0 going into the first intermission. 
 
The Lancers continued to roll at the start of the second stanza. Prifrel scored his third goal to complete the hat trick.  Nine minutes into the period, Worcester State scored once again, this time off the stick of grad student Max Roth.
 
Having fallen behind 5-0, the Corsairs needed to get something going, and junior Michael Mania did just that with two consecutive scores. Both of Mania's goals were assisted by freshman Lane Ruffner. With 8:20 remaining in the third period, the Corsairs scored their third straight goal, this one coming from junior Colin Cromie. Cromie's goal came off passes from his classmate Zach Tarantino and senior Justin Weinbrenner. 
 
The game was in reach for UMass Dartmouth after narrowing the lead to 5-3, but the Worcester State defense held strong, forcing coach Erik Noack to pull his goalie in the final minutes. The Lancers capitalized with an open-net goal from junior Deiter Stange and went on to defeat the Corsairs 6-3. 

UMass Dartmouth was out-shot 40-32. Worcester State won the face-off battle 41-32. 

After subbing in for senior goalkeeper Daniel Davidson midway through the second period, freshman Marshall McKallip stopped all 18 shots he faced and allowed no goals. 

UMass Dartmouth will look to respond with a win in their next match against Framingham State on Saturday. The Corsairs won the first meeting between these two 6-5 earlier in the season. The puck drops at 5:30 PM at the Hetland Arena in New Bedford.