SALEM — Shaquan Murray (Boston, MA) anchored Salem State with 19 points and Drew Healy (Lowell, MA) added a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Vikings cruised to an 82-74 victory over Westfield State on Saturday afternoon at Twohig Gymnasium. Salem State remains tied for first place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference as they improved to 9-2 in conference. The Owls dropped to 4-6 in the MASCAC and 8-14 on the season.
The two sides battled for the lead in the opening minutes of the first half as seven lead changes took place. Rayshaw Matthews (Boston, MA) sparked a 9-0 run by finishing an Alex Santos (Lawrence, MA) assist under the hoop. Healy used both his size and shooting ability to help the Vikings jump out to a 23-14 lead midway through the half. The Owls had their hands full with Shaquan Murray (Boston, MA) who torched Westfield State with 14 first half points, mainly coming in transition. Peter Mafo (Lynn, MA) paced the Owls’ offense with eight points as his team shot 56.7% from the floor. Salem State shot 46% from the floor, but looked inside for their scoring as they collected 26 points in the paint.
Sean Bryan (Lowell, MA) energized the Vikings in the first half with his vision as he dropped three assists in only eight minutes of play. Bryan also gave his team their largest lead of the half, an 11-point margin after a made layup. However, the Owls cut that lead to just six points before halftime as Salem State took a 41-35 advantage heading into the break.
Salem State took over the game midway through the second half as they jumped out to a 16-point lead after a 7-0 run led by Jacob Lindland (Hamilton, MA). Multiple Vikings had a major role in the win in the second half as Marcus Faison (Cambridge, MA) scored seven points while Healey added 10 points nine rebounds and five monstrous blocks. Santos also contributed heavily with fifteen points on 2-2 shooting from beyond the arc and four assists. This array of production Allowed Salem State to secure an 82-74 win.
Mafo led the Owls with a healthy 18 points while Jesus Sanchez (Amherst, MA) and Shane Pasquantonio (Ashland, MA) both added 13 points.
The Vikings will wrap up the regular season on Feb. 15 when they host the Falcons of Fitchburg State at 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the Owls will host the Bulldogs of Dean College on Feb. 13 at 7:00 p.m.
Men’s Ice Hockey Wins
FITCHBURG, Mass. – Senior forward Cameron Snyder netted a pair of markers for Fitchburg State, but the Falcons dropped a 7-5 decision to the visiting Vikings of Salem State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Wallace Civic Center on senior day.
Salem State grabbed the lead at the 6:58 mark of the first period as junior forward Derek Makimaa collected a feed from senior Brad Jones and deposited the puck into the back of net for his fourth tally on the year for the 1-0 advantage.
Following Makimaa’s second score of the contest, which doubled the Vikings lead (2-0), Fitchburg State cut into the deficit when freshman forward Tyler Warila connected on his seventh score on the year at the 12:36 mark to make the score 2-1.
The Falcons knotted the score (2-2) roughly two and half minutes later as newcomer Dean Zerby received a pass from classmates Kyle Hillick and Joshua Larsen and blasted a shot inside the near post for his second goal of the season.
Salem State regained the lead with just under four and half minutes remaining in the opening period when Makimaa completed the hat trick, slipping a shot into the left side of the net for the 3-2 edge after 20 minutes of play.
In the second stanza, the Green and Gold retied the contest (3-3) just 1:03 into the frame as senior forward Jon Johannesson ripped a shot inside the near post off assists from sophomore Nick DiNicola and junior James Gordon for his fourth tally of the season.
The Vikings took the lead back four minutes later when junior forward Casey Miller connected on his sixth score on the year for the 4-3 margin before senior forward Michael Chen and sophomore Emile Levesque connected on back-to-back score for the visitors to make the score 6-3 going into the final period of play.
In the third period, the Green and Gold battled back as Snyder connected on his seventh marker of the 2016-17 campaign just 49 seconds into the frame (6-4). Fitchburg State rallied again with just under five minute left in regulation as Snyder struck for his second goal of the game, but the Vikings secured the win when junior forward Dan Holland fired a shot into the empty net with four seconds left, resulting in the 7-5 final.
Prior to the contest, Fitchburg State honored its four seniors playing in their final regular season: #19 Jon Johannesson, #23 Jordan Furlane, #25 Cameron Snyder and #26 Mike Fish for their contributions to the program.
For the contest, Salem State held a 32-22 margin in shots, while Fitchburg State finished 1-for-2 with the man advantage. In goal, sophomores Charles Jakobsson and Quinn Wold combined to stop 25 shots for the Falcons, while junior Jason Pucciarelli made 17 saves in 59:42 minutes of action for the Vikings.
Fitchburg State (10-11-1, 7-7-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Monday as it host the Lancers of Worcester State University for a contest starting at 8:30 p.m. Salem State (11-8-3, 10-2-2 MASCAC) will travel to Plymouth State on Tuesday at 6 p.m
Women’s Basketball
SALEM — Guards Jill Valley (Orange, MA) and Lucy Barrett (Williamstown, MA) contributed 15 points each as the Westfield State Owls handed the Vikings of Salem State a 91-65 defeat on Saturday afternoon at the O’Keefe Center. Westfield improves to 15-8 overall and 9-1 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, while the Vikings drop to 10-14 and 2-9 in conference play.
Salem State had trouble in the first half handling the full court pressure applied by the Owls as Westfield State forced 19 first half turnovers in building a 51-22 lead before intermission. The Vikings were cold from the field also, going just 8-for-26 (30.8%) from the field. Sophomore guard, Lucy Barrett was the leading scorer at the half for Westfield with 11 points in eight minutes. For the Vikings, sophomore forward Kia Fernandes (Wareham, MA), was the lone bright spot for Salem State with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and seven rebounds in the first half.
The Vikings made strides to start the second half, outscoring the Owls 20-16 in the third quarter, but Westfield’s pressure continued to trouble Salem State, as the Vikings ended the game with 37 total team turnovers. Ten players contributed to the 24 steals the Owls were able to tally, with sophomore forward Janaiya Sanchez (Springfield, MA) leading the team with six. Westfield State managed to turn those turnovers into 47 points while the pressure of the Owls made it difficult for the Vikings to get any clean looks as Salem State went just 1-15 (6.7%) from behind the arc.
It was a combined team effort for Westfield State as guards Valley, Barrett, and sophomore Kierra McCarthy (Ludlow, MA) led the way combining for 43 points and seven steals.
In the loss, junior guard Norma Waggett (Saugus, MA) finished with a double-double. Waggett had a strong scoring second half despite the deficit, finishing with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Kia Fernandes also finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Salem State will resume action Feb. 15th when they face-off against the Fitchburg State Falcons, 7:30 p.m. at Twohig Gym. The Owls next matchup is a home game scheduled against the Bridgewater State Bears Feb. 15th.
MARLBORO, Mass. — The Becker College women’s ice hockey team lost 5-2 to visiting Salem State University in a Colonial Hockey Conference showdown on Saturday afternoon at the New England Sports Center in Marlboro.
After a scoreless first period, the Vikings of Salem State (4-17, 2-8 CHC) tallied four goals in the second from freshman forward Amanda Giles (Merrimack, NH / Boston Bandits), junior defender Catherine Salvetti (Saugus, MA / Boston Shamrocks), freshman forward Sammy Williams (DeWitt, MI / Lansing Catholic) and freshman defender Kayla Kopinski (Elma, NY / Buffalo Regals) all finding the back of the net. Freshman forward Kerryann Goode (Millis, MA / Medway) added an insurance goal with three minutes left in the third period for the final total of five. Freshman goalie Sarah Plourde (Hooksett, NH Bishop Brady Trinity) finished with 28 saves between the pipes to earn the win.
The Ice Hawks of Becker (8-14-2, 2-10 CHC) got a goal from sophomore forward Rachel Pitcher (Grand Isle, Vt. / Vermont Shamrocks) with 1:08 remaining in the second period. Freshman defenseman Samantha Talmadge (Hamden, Conn. / Hamden High School) scored another goal 10:27 into the third. Sophomore goaltender Madison Rigsby (O’Fallon, Mo. / Dallas Stars Elite) finished with 27 saves.
The Ice Hawks of Becker will conclude their regular season next Saturday when they travel to Colby College for a 6:00 p.m. game. The Vikings of Salem State play their next contest at Endicott College on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
