Wildcats Rally Past Owls in Home Opener

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Johnson & Wales forward Connor Nelson (Woodbury, Minn.) scored the go-ahead goal with 2:50 remaining in regulation for a hattrick as the Wildcats rallied past Westfield State 3-2 in the home opener from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass. on Tuesday night.

The Owls (1-3) built a two goal lead after a scoreless first period between the two sides. Cannon Bonifay (Fort Worth, Texas) got the scoring started, tipping home a shot from Jere Puronlahti (Helsinki, Finland) 4:38 into the second period.

Westfield doubled their lead midway through the period. The Owls transitioned quickly from defense to offense after Niklas Vasiljevs (Chesire, Conn.) blocked a Wildcats shot in the defensive end, controlling the puck and flipping it up ice to Nicolas Coppola (Glendale, Ariz.) who skated down the boards before sharply cutting inside and firing a wrister in tight and past Jake Inzirillo (West Islip, N.Y.) for the two goal advantage.

The Owls had several chances to increase the lead after a slew of penalties from the Wildcats gave Westfield a brief two-man advantage before an Owls penalty resulted in a four-on-three Owls advantage. The Wildcats killed the first penalty, setting up even strength at four-on-four where Nelson quickly tallied after existing the penalty box, beating Aiden Winslow (Jacksonville, Fla.) to trim the deficit to one goal.

Westfield carried the lead into the middle stages of the third where a high sticking penalty for the Owls resulted in a power play equalizer by Nelson in the closing seconds of the man advantage, tying the score at two apiece with 9:15 to play in regulation.

Nelson was not finished, scoring his third marker of the night after cleaning up the loose puck on an initial shot by Davis Bone (San Diego, Calif.).

Winslow kept the Owls down one goal after a pair of Owls miscues, making a spectacular glove save with two minutes remaining on a breakaway shot from Thomas Jacques (Prospect, Ky.). With Winslow pulled for the extra skater, Bonifay and Daniel Finegan (Chicago, Ill.) had back-to-back shots on goal within seconds of each other, but both were stopped by Inzirillo. An Owls penalty with 36 seconds left hampered Westfield's chances of finding a tying goal.

The Owls held a 28-22 shots on goal edge with Winslow making 19 saves for Westfield. Inzirillo stopped 26 shots on net to gain his second win of the season. Special teams played a pivotal role on the night with the Owls held scoreless on five man-advantage chances. Johnson & Wales got just two power plays, but capitalized on one of them which served as the game-tying marker.

Westfield State will remain home for their next game on Saturday as the Owls begin MASCAC play against Framingham State at 5:35 P.M. from Amelia Park Arena.