NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Powered by multi-point efforts from four different players, the UMass Dartmouth men's hockey team posted a 5-2 win over Salem State University in MASCAC action on Saturday evening. The Corsairs move to 14-9-0 with a 12-7-0 mark in conference, while the Vikings slip to 6-16-1 and 6-12-1 in the MASCAC.
The Corsairs honored their seniors and grad students prior to today's contest, including
Jake Maynard,
Cade Hanley,
Michael Perrone,
Michael Mania,
Stephon Perreault,
Bryce Grennan,
Billy McDevitt,
Colin Cromie and
Zach Tarantino.
It was a three-goal opening period for the Corsairs as the squad netted their first at 11:53. A tape-to-tape feed from freshman wing
Alex Walker to Perrone, saw Patterson collect the puck in front, dropping it in on the right side.
Less than 30 seconds later, Perrone netted his own tally, corralling the puck from Patterson and firing in a shot from the left circle. Sophomore defender
Lane Ruffner, who passed the puck from the point to Perrone, netted the secondary assist.
Perrone went on to make it a 3-0 lead at 16:12, driving home a feed from linemates Walker and Patterson to send the Corsairs into the intermission with the strong lead.
The visiting Vikings opened the second period with a tally as Luke Day wristed a shot past the reach of Corsairs goalie
Marshall McKallip down low. Chase Conlon and Mitch Wilkie were credited with the assists on the play.
Heading into the third period, the Vikings pulled it to within one at 5:13 as Conlon found the back of the net glove-side on McKallip. Landyn Greatorex and Chris Dowd assisted on the goal.
Sophomore winger
Tyler Stewart regained the two-goal margin for the home team at 8:08, catching a quick pass from senior center
Michael Mania in front for the shot past Hunter Thomas in the Salem State goal.
Stewart then netted an empty net goal, stealing the puck off a Vikings stick as he sent it down into the open net.
Perrone finished with two goals and a helper as Patterson added a goal with two assists. Stewart had two goals, while Walker dropped in two assists. Rookie center
Connor Little went 11-19 from the faceoff circle to lead all players.
McKallip earned the victory in goal, stopping 29 shots on the night. Thomas posted 37 saves on the other end for the Vikings.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the ice on Thursday, welcoming Plymouth State to Hetland Arena at 7:30pm in the final regular season home game of 2023-24.
