KEENE, N.H. – Powered by three goals in the final five minutes of play – including two just 48 seconds apart – the UMass Dartmouth men's hockey team defeated Keene State, 6-3 in Little East Conference (LEC) action on Friday night at Keene ICE. The Corsairs move to 7-5-0 overall and 2-3-0 in conference play, while the Owls are now 5-7-0 and 1-5-0 in the LEC.
Trailing 3-2 entering the third period, the visiting Corsairs battled back on a power play at 3:12 of the final stanza. Junior right wing
Alex Walker netted the equalizer, firing home a backdoor shot at the left post off a feed from the right by sophomore defender
Hunter Scanlon. Rookie center
Kailin Chen picked up the secondary assist, passing the puck to Scanlon from near the goal line.
The Corsairs took the 4-3 lead at 15:37 as the puck came loose into traffic off the faceoff win by senior assistant captain and left wing
Tyler Stewart. Chen found it high in the slot, spinning around to fire a shot through the bodies in front past the reach of Keene's Cameron Reardon.
UMass Dartmouth gained the 5-3 advantage seconds later as a point-to-point pass by the Owls defense was intercepted by Stewart, who carried it into the zone. The senior's backhander slipped in under the leg of the Owls goalie at 16:25.
The Corsairs iced the game at 19:00 as a pass from senior assistant captain and right wing
Kevin Johnston hit the stick of rookie center
Chris Cardillo, who backed it into the open net for the visitors' sixth goal of the night to seal the win.
It was the homestanding Owls that opened the game's scoring as a pass by sophomore winger Kyle Gonzalez found classmate and center Thor Hansen speeding down the slot. Taking the shot from the mid-point, Hansen roofed the puck over the shoulder of Corsairs goalie
Graham Burke at 6:40 of the first.
The Corsairs answer three minutes later as junior right wing
Alex Walker found a loose rebound in front, firing it into the Owls goal for the equalizer at 9:06. Scanlon earned the primary assist, taking the initial shot, while Stewart nabbed the second assist.
In the second period, the homestanding Owls took the lead on the power play as a rifled shot from the point by sophomore defender Shane Mazur sailed in past the reach of Burke for the 2-1 lead at 15:13.
UMass Dartmouth answered at 18:51 of the frame after a win off the faceoff by junior center
Doug Doren, saw Scanlon dig the puck out of the boards, finding senior left wing
Vincent Nicosia at the near boards. Skating into the zone through the left circle, Nicosia wristed a shot that sailed in off the top right corner for a 2-2 score.
The lead proved short lived as the Owls gained a 2-on-1 advantage with junior winger Filip Tjarnhell feed the puck across to rookie winger Zackary Chouinard in the mid-slot, who fired home a shot past Burke for the 3-2 lead heading into the final period.
At the top of the left circle, the Owls attempted the pass to the right, but it was intercepted by Stewart who carried it into the zone. Crossing in front of the goal mouth, the senior backhanded a shot that slipped in under the leg of the Owls goalie for the 5-3 advantage.
Walker led the way for the Corsairs with two goals on the night, while Stewart added a goal and two assists. Scanlon added three assists on the night, while senior captain and defender
Lane Ruffner produced a game-high seven blocked shots on the night.
In goal, Burke had an outstanding effort to pick up the victory, recording 32 saves, while his counterpart, Reardon had 25 stops in the loss.
UMass Dartmouth is back in action on Saturday, traveling to WestConn for another LEC matchup at 2:30pm.
