SALEM, Mass. – Salem State used a strong first period effort to hold on for victory over UMass Dartmouth in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Monday night. The Vikings move to 14-6-0 overall and 10-4-0 in conference play with the 6-2 victory, while the Corsairs are now 9-11-1 with a 6-7-1 mark in the MASCAC.
The Vikings opened the game's scoring at 3:49 as junior left winger Landyn Greatorex connected on a feed from sophomore center Carson James for the tally past UMD's
Graham Burke. The Corsairs answered on the power play three minutes later as rookie defender
Hunter Scanlon recorded his seventh of the season.
As the puck was cleared out of the Vikings zone, Burke corralled the puck to the right of the net. Facing pressure, he passed it behind the net to junior assistant captain and defender
Lane Ruffner, who picked it up behind the net and carried it through the UMD zone. Ruffner found Scanlon on the move down the right side as he barreled into the Salem end, firing a shot into the left corner past the stick side of sophomore goalie William Nepveu.
Despite the momentum, the Vikings struck back two minutes later as senior right wing Luke Day buried a pass from senior left wing Rais Francis for the go-ahead tally. Salem State tacked on another goal at 10:34 with Francis connecting, this time with Day on the feed for the 3-1 lead. The Vikings added two more goals in the frame, taking a 5-1 lead into the middle period.
Second period action was a scoreless affair as junior netminder
Marshall McKallip came on for the Corsairs, stopping all nine shots he faced in the frame. UMass Dartmouth had a number of outstanding chances, challenging Nepveu with several shots, including a pair from graduate student captain and defender,
Cade Hanley.
Into the third period of play, the Corsairs continued to put pressure on the Vikings end, as UMD threw eight shots on goal in the opening nine minutes of the frame. Pacing the way were a pair of shots from sophomore right winger
Alex Walker as Nepveu continued to stonewall the visitors.
UMass Dartmouth broke through at 13:23 as junior left winger
Tyler Stewart netted his 13th of the season. Junior defender
Hank McDonough got things going, digging the puck out at the far boards and sending a cross-ice pass to fifth year center
Michael Mania. Navigating into the Vikings zone, Mania sent a pass over to Stewart, who fired it five-hole on Nepveu to cut the deficit to 5-2.
After timeouts by each team, the Corsairs pulled McKallip, looking for another tally to close the gap, but Salem State capitalized as Day fired one into the empty net to wrap up the game's scoring.
Nepveu had an outstanding effort in goal, stopping 35 of the 36 shots he faced to pick up the win. Burke shouldered the loss for the Corsairs, stopping 13 shots through 16:52 minutes of action. McKallip made 13 stops in relief over the final 42:53.
UMass Dartmouth is right back in action on Thursday, welcoming Anna Maria to Hetland Arena for a 7:30pm MASCAC showdown.
