Valtonen, Owls Rush Past Lancers, 3-1

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior goalkeeper Valtteri Valtonen (Helsinki, Finland) racked up 44 saves as the Owls scored the first three goals of the game to storm past Worcester State 3-1 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game on the road Saturday night.

The Owls have now won three straight games, improving their overall record to 7-3-1 while holding a 4-2-1 mark in conference play. The Lancers sit at 3-8 on the season and 3-6 in league action.

Westfield scored a pair of first-period goals with Christopher Miraldo (Montreal, Quebec) capitalizing on the man advantage with his team-leading ninth goal of the season to give the Owls a 1-0 lead.

In the closing minutes of the first period, the Owls doubled their lead with Andreas Fleutot (Megeve, France) delivering his third tally of the year off assists from Brett Williams (Easton, Mass.) and Dawson Garcia (Oakville, Ontario).

Midway through the second period, the Owls pushed the lead to three goals this time off the tape of Daniel Finegan (Chicago, Ill.) for his second goal in as many nights. Finegan has now collected six points over his last three games, adding an assist on Miraldo's opening goal of the contest.

The Lancers got just one shot past Valtonen on the night, which came 12 seconds after the Finegan goal as Martin Dlugolinsky (Stara Lubovna, Slovakia) cut the Owls lead to two goals with nine minutes left in the second period.

After outshooting the Lancers 16-13 in the opening frame, the Owls leaned on the their netminder to keep the lead as Valtonen piled up 44 saves, including 32 saves in the final two periods to send the Owls home with a victory. In his three games since returning from injury, the Owls have remained unbeaten during that stretch with Valtonen registering a total of 120 saves over the course of the three games.

Westfield State will resume play in 2024 as the Owls visit Salem State on Thursday, January 4 at 7:00 P.M.