Collins’ Late-Game Winner Propels Owls Past UMass Dartmouth, 4-3

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior forward Justin Collins (Wilmington, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal with 33 seconds remaining in regulation to guide the Owls past UMass Dartmouth 4-3 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game from Amelia Park Arena on Saturday night.

The Owls and Corsairs both finish the regular season at 6-11-1 in the MASCAC, but with the Owls winning all three regular season matchups, Westfield wins the tiebreaker to give them the fourth seed in the MASCAC playoffs. UMass Dartmouth earns the fifth seed. Both teams will face-off against one another in the MASCAC quarterfinals on Thursday, February 23 from Amelia Park Arena. Westfield needed a regulation win to earn the higher of the two seeds as an Owls' loss or any overtime result would have given the Corsairs home ice against Westfield.

Collins capped a five-goal third-period scoring frenzy from both sides as there were three lead changes and two separate ties in the period alone. Daniel Finegan (Chicago, Ill.) skated from the top of the point down to the corner of the boards, then dished a pass to Gianluca Marini (Lighthouse, Point, Fla.) behind the net who fed the puck to Collins where he sniped a shot from the right face-off dot high blocker side past Corsairs' goalkeeper Daniel Davidson (Surrey, B.C.) for the game-winner.

Both teams entered the third period tied at one until UMass Dartmouth netted the first of the period with Matthew Zdanowicz (Lyndhurst, N.J.) rifling home his sixth goal of the season on a pass from Tyler Stewart (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to put the Corsairs up 2-1 just 2:14 into the frame.

Less than three minutes later, Kasper Korhonen (Helsinki, Finland) knotted the game up at two goals apiece with JoJo Carbone (Marshfield, Mass.) saucering a feed towards the center of the crease for Korhonen who tipped it into the back of the net.

The Owls jumped ahead two minutes and forty-four seconds after the Korhonen tally, beginning with Collins who collected a tipped shot from Cooper Board (Salem, Mass.) behind the net and quickly touched a pass to a streaking Marini who fired a shot on net that was saved by Davidson with the rebound finding the stick of Board who deposited his team-leading 14^th goal of the season, giving Westfield a 3-2 advantage with 11:44 remaining in the period.

It did not take long for the Corsairs to even the game, converting on a power play opportunity. Sky Silverstein (Riverhead, N.Y.) fired a slap pass across the ice to Kevin Johnston (Mahwah, N.J.) who's shot was initially stopped by Owls' goalie Valtteri Valtonen (Helsinki, Finland) but not corralled, allowing for Clay Ellerbrock (Tega Bay, S.C.) to nail home the equalizer.

Both teams remained tied at three until the final minute of the game where Westfield called timeout and in doing so, pulled Valtonen from the net. The Owls briefly skated six-on-four, with the power play opportunity being killed by the Corsairs, but Collins managed to deliver the victory with Valtonen pulled.

The Corsairs then called timeout and pulled Davidson from their net for the final 33 seconds, but Valtonen and the Owls defense stood tall to close out the win.   

The Owls struck for the only goal of the first period despite numerous scoring chances on both sides. Board skated through the middle of the attacking zone and fed a pass to Collins who wristed a shot on net that was first saved Davidson with the rebound deflecting to a crashing Marini who jabbed at the loose puck, capitalizing on a man-advantage opportunity for the early 1-0 lead.

The Corsairs found their first of the game late in the second period, beginning with Vincent Nicosia (West Bloomfield, Mich.) who wristed the puck around the boards to Zach Tarantino (Jackson, N.J.) where he flipped the puck back behind the net to Johnston who saucered a pass towards the far post where Tarantino snuck a shot past Valtonen.

Valtonen finished the night by piling up 46 saves. Davidson stopped 32 shots on net as the Corsairs out-shot the Owls 49-36.

Prior to the start of the game, Westfield State honored its seven senior hockey players: Spencer DeRidder (Fairport, N.Y.), Chris Sullivan (Marshfield, Mass.), Dan Long (Guilford, Conn.), Andrew McCormick (Canton, N.Y.), Justin Collins (Wilmington, Mass.), Mathieu Jones (Gatineau, Quebec), and JoJo Carbone (Marshfield, Mass.).

The two teams will meet again in just five days to begin the MASCAC Tournament.