Owls Third-Period Push Falls Short at UMass Dartmouth

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Julian Boisclair (Voorhees, N.J.) and Cannon Bonifay (Fort Worth, Texas) tallied goals in the third period but Westfield State was unable to overcome a three-goal deficit, falling 3-2 to the Corsairs in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon from Dartmouth, Mass.

Playing in back-to-back games to start the year after defeating Western New England 8-5 yesterday, the Owls are now 1-1 in the early season. The Corsairs pick up their first win of the year in their second game.

After no scoring in the opening period, the Corsairs notched three goals in the second period starting 1:06 out of the intermission with Alex Walker burying an even strength marker for the first goal of the contest.

UMass Dartmouth then added two goals within three minutes of each other halfway through the period. Kailin Chen (Beijing, China) struck first, then an Owls penalty set up a power play tally by Brennen Pecararo (Canton, Mass.) which increased the Corsairs lead to three goals heading into the second intermission.

Despite the quick turnaround with an 8:15pm puck drop last night combined with the late afternoon start today, the Owls had energy left in the tank to make a comeback attempt.

Boisclair picked up his second goal of the season just 1:08 into the third period, cutting the deficit to two goals before Bonifay took a pass from Jesper Seeberg (Lake Worth, Fla.) and fired home a man-advantage goal, trimming the Corsairs lead to one goal with about 6:30 left in regulation.

The Owls continued to mount pressure in the Corsairs zone, letting go 13 shots in the final five minutes of the period. UMass Dartmouth netminder Marshall McKallip (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was up to the task, making five saves over that span while also getting help from his defense which blocked four shots, including the final two in the remaining 20 seconds of the game.

The Corsairs held a 31-29 shots on goal advantage with Aiden Winslow (Jacksonville, Fla.) making 28 saves after posting up between the pipes last night and making 38 saves in a winning effort. McKallip also made 28 saves in the victory for the Corsairs. Dartmouth held a 39-32 edge in the face-off circle as well.

Westfield State will travel to Franklin Pierce on Tuesday at 7:00 P.M. before taking on Johnson & Wales in the home opener on November 11 from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass.