NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Powered by a three-goal effort in the third period, the UMass Dartmouth men's hockey team defeated Rivier University, 5-2 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday. The Corsairs move to 8-6-0 and 5-3-0 in conference, while the Raiders are now 5-9-1 and 1-6-1 in the MASCAC.
The Corsairs opened the game's scoring just before the first period expired as junior left wing
Tyler Stewart navigated into the middle slot, firing a shot on goal that was saved by Rivier goalie LJ Newell. The puck rebounded loose to the left where fifth-year center and assistant captain
Michael Mania waited, burying it into the open net at 19:22.
In the second period, UMass Dartmouth went on the power play, but it was Rivier that took advantage. Deep in the Raiders zone, the Corsairs won the face-off, but as the puck came off a UMD stick, junior defenseman Carter Poulin picked it up, navigating all the way down the ice for a short-handed equalizer past Corsairs junior goalie
Graham Burke at 2:27.
UMass Dartmouth answered two minutes later as sophomore center
Doug Doren fed the puck behind the net to rookie defender Brennan Pecararo. The freshman ripped a quick shot to the front as junior right wing and assistant captain
Kevin Johnston buried it for the 2-1 lead.
Despite the momentum, the home team found itself tied heading into the second intermission as senior right wing Jake Laville made his way toward the back of the net as the Corsairs looked to clear it from their zone. As the puck was settled behind the goal by Burke, Laville stole the puck, racing around for the short-handed score at 17:26.
Into the third period, UMass Dartmouth broke through at 10:16 as rookie defender
Noah Webster cleared the puck out of the Corsairs zone, chipping it up to sophomore right wing
Alex Walker in the neutral zone. Speeding into the low slot, Walker fired home to go-ahead marker (3-2).
Less than two minutes later and the Corsairs made it a 4-2 contest as Pecararo swung around the back of the net, wristing a shot past Newell. Rookie center
Spencer Sykes and sophomore center
Connor Little earned the assists on the goal.
UMass Dartmouth tacked on its final goal at 16:03. Deep in their own zone, Webster corralled the puck and dropped it back to Pecararo at the boards almost behind the net. A quick shift from Pecararo over to Stewart, saw the junior winger go coast-to-coast, burying the puck for the 5-3 tally.
For the Corsairs, Pecararo led the charge, notching a goal with two assists. Stewart added a goal and an assist, while Webster had two assists. Mania, who recorded his first goal of the season, paced the way, going 12-23 in the faceoff circle, while Burke earned the victory with 29 stops on the night.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Nichols College at Hetland Arena at 7:30pm.
