Box Score
SALEM - Freshman goaltender Sam Avoine (Ste-Perpetue, Quebec) stopped 30 of 31 shots as the Salem State Vikings cruised to a 7-1 victory over the Westfield State Owls Thursday night at Rockett Arena.
The Vikings improve to 8-7-2 overall and 7-2-2 in the conference. The win solidified Coach Bill O’Neil’s squad first-place position in the MASCAC; they are tied with Fitchburg State with 16 points apiece. The Westfield Owls drop to 9-6-2 overall and 6-2-2.
Salem State goals came from seven different scorers including Derek Crocker (Wakefield, MA), Kevin Hughes (Natick, MA), Chris McInnis (Waltham, MA) in the opening period. The Vikings continued their domination in the second period as Casey Terrerri (Warwick, RI) scored an unassisted goal which was followed by another from the blade of Matt Kenline (Yarmouth, MA) to make it 5-0 after two periods.
Ian Flanagan (New Hampton, NH) kept the momentum through the third with his goal at the 9:07 mark. Chad Johnson (Lynn, MA) capped the Viking’s offense with the seventh goal of the contest. The Vikings were 2-5 on power play opportunities and limited Westfield to one goal in eight attempts with the advantage.
The Owls lone goal was scored unassisted by freshman forward Jason Nelson (Raleigh, NC).
Salem State’s three goal first period was started by freshman Crocker. He scored the first goal of his Viking’s career at the 1:24 mark of the opening period against Westfield’s goaltender Ray Monroe (Shrewsbury, MA).
The scoreboard continued to be lit up in the period by Salem State defenseman Hughes who slipped a rebound past Wilson. Vikings forward McInnis scored the final goal of the period. Freshman skater Nick Lampson (Groton, MA) had three assists in the first period.
Monroe (19 saves) was pulled after the second period in favor of Ian Wilson (Tulsa, OK). Wilson allowed two goals on 13 shots, as the Vikings held a 37-31 advantage in shots for the game.