NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Behind a three-goal third period and two point efforts from three different players, the UMass Dartmouth men's hockey team defeated Worcester State, 4-1 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Thursday afternoon. The Corsairs move to 6-5-0 overall and 3-2-0 in conference play, while the Lancers are now 5-6-1 and 2-3-1 in the MASCAC.
The Corsairs opened the game's scoring at 9:29 of the second period as rookie defender
Hunter Scanlon fired in the rebound from a
Spencer Sykes shot from the left circle. Scanlon's shot deflected in off the Lancers goaltender for the 1-0 advantage. Sykes earned the assist on the play as he navigated the puck up into the zone after a faceoff win in the other end.
UMass Dartmouth carried that advantage into the final period of play, adding to the margin as junior left winger
Tyler Stewart netted the second goal for UMD at the 1:23 mark. Junior center
Nolan Wutzke started the play, passing the puck to Scanlon at the near side. Carrying the puck behind the goal, Scanlon doubled back, finding Stewart at the mid-slot as he fired straight down the middle.
Sykes made it a 3-0 margin at 9:00 after he won the faceoff as the puck squirted out to sophomore right wing
Luke Jordan. Navigating it up into the zone, he sent it across ice to Sykes, who fired in a shot from the left circle.
The Lancers responded at 13:22 on the power play as sophomore left wing Matthew Nuzzolilo dropped in a shot from the mid-slot on the circle line for the shot past UMD goalie
Graham Burke. Grad student winger Brian Clougherty, who fired the puck from down low, and sophomore defender Maximillian Hussar were credited with the assists.
Junior defender and assistant captain
Lane Ruffner closed out the game's scoring, netting a power play tally of his own at 15:13. Winning the faceoff in the left circle, Stewart got the puck, who sent it to the high slot to Ruffner. Seeing an opening at the right boards with junior right wing and assistant captain
Kevin Johnston, Ruffner sent it across, but got it right back.
Securing the puck from Johnston, Ruffner rifled a shot straight down the middle, which sailed past WSU netminder Jakub Kubik for the 4-1 advantage.
UMass Dartmouth won the battle in the faceoff circle by a 43-35 margin with sophomore center
Connor Little leading the way with a 16-11 edge, while Wutzke was 13-9. The Corsairs also held a 44-32 advantage in shots for the evening. In addition to his goal and assist, Scanlon paced the effort with a game-high four blocked shots. Stewart and Sykes each added a goal and an assist on the night.
In goal, the Corsairs saw Burke record the win, stopping 31 shots on the night, while Kubik recorded 40 saves overall.
The Corsairs return to the ice on Saturday, traveling to Anna Maria for a 6:40pm tilt against the AMCats in MASCAC action.
