WESTFIELD, Mass. – A two-goal third period and several outstanding saves in net helped lift UMass Dartmouth to a 3-1 win over Westfield State in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's hockey action on Saturday night at Amelia Park Arena. The victory moves the Corsairs to 11-13-1 overall and 8-9-1 in conference play, while the Owls are now 11-13 with a 7-10 mark in the MASCAC.
After a scoreless opening period, the homestanding Owls opened the game's scoring at 7:43 of the second period. Earning the power play, Westfield State saw Emile Tremblay bury a feed from Christopher Miraldo to gain the 1-0 advantage.
The Corsairs answered with around a minute to play in the frame as sophomore right wing
Johnny Ramoundos netted his first goal as a Corsair. Corralling a pass from junior left wing
Tyler Stewart, Ramoundos navigated to the bottom of the right circle, wristing a shot past the Owls goalie to even it at 1-all. Sophomore center
Nolan Wutzke was credited with the secondary assist on the play, making a great pass from behind the net up to Stewart.
Locked in a tie heading into the final period of play, the Corsairs gained the advantage at 7:38 as fifth year center and assistant captain
Michael Mania converted the loose puck in front off a rebounded shot from rookie defender
Hunter Scanlon. In addition to Scanlon, junior defender and assistant captain
Lane Ruffner was credited with an assist after a perfectly placed pass from point-to-point to the rookie defender.
The Corsairs made it a two-goal advantage at 17:23, once again converting on the power play. UMD's third tally came off the stick of Stewart as he found a loose puck in front and banked it home on the left side. 2:37 to play on the power play. Stewey fires it in from the right circle and its saved but the puck comes loose in traffic. Stewart swarmed in front and drove the puck into the net.
The Owls stormed back down the ice and nearly capitalized, but a fantastic glove save by junior
Graham Burke on a shot from Steven Sedivy-Blengino preserved the Corsairs two-goal lead with 1:37 remaining on the clock.
UMass Dartmouth continued to hold off the Owls down the stretch, claiming the victory as they moved into the sixth spot in the MASCAC standings on the final day of the regular season. The Corsairs have qualified for the playoffs and will likely travel to Salem State on Thursday for the Tournament Quarterfinals. More details will be released soon.
