SALEM, Mass. – Powered by the first collegiate hat trick for rookie center
Collin Patterson, the UMass Dartmouth men's hockey team battled back for a 7-4 win at Salem State University in MASCAC action on Thursday evening. The Corsairs – winners of six straight contests – move to 10-6-0 overall and are now 8-4-0 in conference play. The Vikings fall to 4-12-0 and are now 4-8-0 in the MASCAC.
The homestanding Vikings owned a 2-0 advantage heading into the second period, but the visitors rebounded as rookie center
Collin Patterson scored the first of his two goals in the contest at 4:34 of the middle stanza. Sophomore winger
Brandon Clark corralled the puck at the near boards, shifting a pass through to the right circle for freshman right wing
Alex Walker.
Turning toward the net, Walker sent a deep pass into the left post as Patterson – the reigning MASCAC Rookie of the Week – was there to bank it in for the 2-1 margin. The Corsairs answered just over three minutes later, this time as grad winger
Michael Perrone chipped the puck into the offensive zone down the left side. Walker found the loose puck, passing it to the mid-slot as Patterson skated down low for another wrister over the shoulder of Vikings goalie Aaron Mercer.
With the score tied, 2-2, Salem State connected at 12:37 on the power play as Luke Pepin fired a shot in from the left point that was redirected in by Zach Dill past sophomore goalie
Marshall McKallip. Less than three minutes later, the Vikings regained the two-goal lead, opening up a 4-2 margin as Keagan O'Donoghue roofed a shot over the shoulder of McKallip off a pass behind the net from Erik Larsson.
Late in the frame, the Corsairs got one back as a nice give-and-go effort from linemates
Michael Mania and
Tyler Stewart made it a 4-3 game at 17:31. Controlling the puck, Mania chipped it back behind the goal to Stewart, who came around the other side of the net. Finding Mania, he passed it across the low slot at the senior center one-timed it past Mercer.
Opening faceoff in the third saw the Corsairs even the game as sophomore defender
Lane Ruffner fired a shot from the defensive zone that found Perrone at the far boards. Corralling the puck, Perrone caught a speeding Walker, who skated through the left circle and fired a shot over the shoulder of Mercer just 10 seconds into the period for the 4-4 score.
The Corsairs grabbed the go-ahead score at 14:25 as Stewart collected the puck off a pass from Mania, skating into the right circle. He found captain
Jake Maynard at the point, who sent a shot to the left circle as Walker banked it in for the 5-4 lead and the power play tally.
Stewart made it a 6-4 lead for the Corsairs at 18:26 after he poked in a shot from the right corner off a pass from the high slot by Maynard. Rookie center
Nolan Wutzke earned the secondary assist after sending the pass over to Maynard from the far side.
In the final seconds of the contest with Mercer pulled for the Vikings, Patterson sealed his first collegiate hat trick after corralling a loose puck off the stick of a Salem State defender, firing it into the empty net for the final 7-4 margin.
UMass Dartmouth was paced by Patterson's hat trick, while Walker posted two goals and two assists on the night. Stewart had a goal and two helpers while Perrone and Maynard each posted two assists. Patterson went 10-21 in the faceoff circle, while Wutzke was 8-10 on the night.
For the Corsairs, McKallip earned the victory, recording 41 saves on the evening, while his counterpart, Mercer, stopped 41 as well in the defeat.
Salem State also saw Dill post two goals and two assists as O'Donoghue had two tallies as well. Pepin led the way with three assists on the night. Luke Day was 10-20 in the circle, while O'Donoghue was 8-14 on faceoffs.
The Corsairs return to the ice on Saturday, traveling to New Hampshire for a 6pm showdown against the Panthers of Plymouth State. The Vikings are also in action on Saturday with a 7:20pm contest at Worcester State.
