SALEM – Salem State captain Cam Moniz (Seekonk, MA) netted the game-winning goal in overtime as the Vikings snuck past the Owls of Westfield State 5-4 in dramatic fashion in the semifinal round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference playoffs on Tuesday evening at Rockett Arena. The Owls erased a four-goal deficit only to come up short in overtime. #1 Salem State will now face-off against #2 Plymouth State for the MASCAC Championship at home on Saturday, March 5th. Game time is set for 2:00 PM. The Panthers and Vikings will meet for the fourth time in the last five seasons for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The teams have split the last two title games with Plymouth State winning 6-2 last season, and Salem State earning the championship in 2014 with a 5-1 victory.
An exciting first period occurred as Salem State came out firing at Westfield State goalie Jonathan LoParco (Vaughan, ONT), scoring four goals on only seven shots. Michael Casale (Stoney Creek, ONT) netted the Vikings first goal when he tipped in a Gabriel Cromp (Montreal, QC) wrist shot from the point. Moments later that line struck again when Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, RI) found Brandon Platt (Pittsburgh, PA) on a 2-on-1 and Platt rifled a one-time slap shot in the upper left corner to give the Vikings an early 2-0 lead. That line wasn’t finished as Casale increased Salem State’s lead to 3-0 when he pick pocketed an Owls’ defender in front of Westfield State goalie LoParco for the easy goal. Platt and Bettencourt connected again with roles reversed as Platt fed Bettencourt on a 2-on-1 opportunity for a 4-0 lead. Despite the deficit, Westfield State outshot Salem State 12-7 in the period. The Owls did get one back when Wyatt Trumblay (Campbell River, BC) wristed a shot past Vikings netminder Marcus Zelzer (Green Bay, WI) to cut Salem State’s lead to 4-1.
Despite a slow start in the first period where they surrendered four goals, the Owls’ offense came out strong in the second period to erase the three-goal deficit. Three minutes into the period Aaron Clancy (Quincy, MA) brought Westfield State to within two goals when he put home a rebound off a Kyllian Kirkwood (copper Cliff, ONT) slap shot from just inside the blue line. The Owls’ offense couldn’t seem to miss as they tallied their third goal moments later when Dalton Jay (Hamilton, ONT) received a tremendous pass from Kirkwood from the slot of their own zone where he beat Zelzer on a breakaway to bring the score to 4-3. With momentum on their side Westfield State knotted up the game at 4-4 when Johnny Orlando (Georgetown, MA) snuck one past Zelzer’s right pad off a Jeremy Young (Lynnfield, MA) rebound. Salem State wasn’t able to answer as both teams scored four unanswered goals to enter the final period tied at 4-4.
Lots of drama in the final period as the Vikings’ goal scorers couldn’t catch a break. First, Derek Makimaa (Swartz Creek, MI) found a trailing Michael Chen (Rockville, MD) for a goal that was called back due to the net being dislodged. Casale had quite the period as he had two goals called back. First, he rang the inside of the post that caused a premature celebration from the Salem State crowd. In addition, with :17 left, Casale sprinted up the ice for a final rush as he found the back of the net with a wrap around, but it was yet called back again as an Owls’ defender knocked the net out of position. These controversial calls caused the game to head into overtime tied at 4-4.
It took 5:30 into the extra period before Moniz put the game-winner past LoParco off a dump and chase from the defense for the Vikings to finally eliminate Westfield State. Salem State improves their record to 21-5 while Westfield State ends the season 13-14.
Zelzer moves to 17-1 as he stopped 31 shots in the game. LoParco (13-13) made 20 saves in the loss. The Owls outshot the Vikings 35-25.
