WORCESTER — Brandon Platt (Pittsburgh, PA) scored twice and Jason Pucciarelli ( Newmarket, ONT ) made 43 saves as Salem State defeated the Assumption Greyhounds 5-1 on Saturday evening at Buffone Arena. The Vikings improve to 3-3 while Assumption slides to 2-6-1.
Platt scored the first of three Salem State goals on a deflection midway through the first as the Vikings built a 3-0 lead. Derek Makimaa (Swartz Creek, MI) extended the lead to 2-0 when he fired a shot from the right circle past goalie David Zulauf (Rochester, MI) before Mackenzie Cook (Reading, MA) beat Zulauf from the slot at the 16:45 mark.
The Vikings, who outshot the Greyhounds 38-27 over the first two periods, scored the only goal of the second when John Needham (Medford, MA) went top shelf with a backhand at 16:45. Assumption broke the shutout 4:20 into the third when Matt Damelio (Rochester, NY) scored on a break away goal when teammate Matt Drake (Manchester, NJ) sent a pass as Damelio was skating across the Salem State blue line. Platt answered thirty seconds later, knocking home his own rebound, to push the margin back to four, 5-1.
Greyhounds goalie Zulauf made 36 saves before being replaced by Robbie Campbell (Raritan, NJ) in the third. Brandon Wolfe (Granger, IN), Daniel Campbell (Waterloo, ONT) and Brody Heleno (Mississaga, ONT) had two assists each.
