SALEM – Salem Sate opened defense of its 2016 MASCAC Championship on Thursday with a resounding 7-3 win over the Westfield State Owls in the Vikings’ home opener on Thursday evening at Rockett Arena. Salem State jumped out to a 7-0 lead before settling for a four-goal victory. The Vikings are now 1-0 and while Westfield State slips to 2-1 and 0-1 in conference,
John Needham (Medford, Mass.) staked Salem State to an early 1-0 lead before Westfield State helped the Vikings’ cause when an Owls’ player deflected a puck into its own net. Casey Miller (Billerica, Mass.) was credited with the goal. Ryan Wilkinson (Burlington, ONT) increased the Salem State lead to 3-0 before Brandon Wolfe (Granger, Ind.) tipped a puck out of the air and past Westfield State goalie Kameron Limburg (Howell, Mich.) for a 4-0 first period lead. The Vikings outshot Westfield State 15-6 in the period.
Brandon Platt (Pittsburgh, Penn.) opened the second period rifling home a nice feed from Miller that tucked inside the far post for Salem State’s fifth goal and first power play score for the period’s only score. Wolf and Michael Chen (Rockville, MD) teamed up for the Vikings’ sixth goal before Chen made the score 7-0 early in the third period.
Carl Greco (Niagara Falls, Ont.) put the Owls on the scoreboard with back-to-back power play goals in the third while Pearce Vance (Berkley, Mich.) closed the scoring with Westfield State’s third power play goal of the period.
Marcus Zelzer (Green Bay, Wisc.), who was honored before the game for being named to the 2016 CCM Division III Hockey All-American Team, made 18 saves in his season debut. Limburg stopped 23 shots in the loss. The Vikings outshot the Owls 30-21. Brad Jones (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Dan Holland (Woburn, Mass.) each had two assists.
Salem State entertains St. Anselm on Tuesday at Rockett Arena beginning at 7:00 PM. Westfield State hosts Fitchburg State next Thursday at 7:35 PM.
BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Endicott men’s ice hockey team skated to a 3-3 overtime tie against the University of New England (UNE) on Thursday night in the first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup for both programs.
Tommy Besinger (Milton, Mass.) potted a pair of goals for Endicott, including the game-tying tally at the 5:12 mark of the third period, to aid the Gulls to their second tie of the young season (0-0-2). Nicholas Petrella (Hilton, N.Y.) also found the back of the net at 13:27 of the second on the power play, while Kevin Aldridge (Birmingham, Mich.) stopped 38 shots.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Tonight’s game was the first-ever meeting between the two squads.
- Besinger and Petrella are tied for the team-lead in goals with two each.
- Cam Bleck (Lake Forest, Ill.) assisted on both of Besinger’s tallies to move into first place on the team in helpers with three total.
- Ryan Dougherty (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and Logan Day (Seminole, Fla.) also picked up an assist apiece.
- Aldridge now has 35 or more saves in 12 career games for the Gulls.
- Endicott went 2-for-8 on the power play.
FOR THE FOES
- Ryan Bloom (Northville, Mich.), Tucker Ross (Ashburn, Va.), and Dylan Bengtson (Coral Springs, Fla.) all scored for the Nor’easters.
- Connor Maloney (Woburn, Mass.) had 27 saves in the tie.
- UNE went 1-for-9 on its man-advantage opportunities.
NOTES
- Tonight’s matchup featured 23 penalties (EC – 11, UNE – 12).
- Endicott has received 13 votes in the latest USCHO.com National Poll, while UNE has garnered one vote in the most recent D3hockey.com National Poll.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (0-0-2) travels to conference foe Nichols College this Saturday (7:10 pm start). UNE (0-0-1) visits Western New England University this Saturday as well (5:10 pm start).
