Seguin Scores Twice in Third Period, Owls Rally Past Raiders 5-3

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Daniel Finegan (Chicago, Ill.) scored the game-winning goal and Raphael Seguin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec) potted a pair of power play goals as Westfield State used a third-period surge to skate past Rivier 5-3 in a MASCAC game from Conway Arena in Nashua, N.H. on Saturday night.

The Owls improve to 4-1 in the MASCAC and 6-4 overall while the Raiders drop to 1-9-1 on the season and 1-3 in conference play.

A back-and-forth affair in the second period pinned the Owls with a 3-2 deficit heading into the third period.

Westfield drew a Rivier penalty at the start of the third, setting the Owls up for their third marker of the night. With ten seconds remaining in the man advantage, Emile Pichette (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) won an attacking zone draw to William Chausse (La Prairie, Quebec) who swung the puck across to Seguin who one-timed a shot to the top left corner of the net to tie the game with 17:21 remaining.

The Owls regained the lead shortly after capitalizing on the power play. Finegan batted down a clearing attempt by Rivier, keeping the puck in the attacking zone where he took the space in front of him, then wristed a high shot over the glove of Josh Kirton for a 4-3 advantage with 15:35 left in regulation.

At the midway point of the period, the Owls cashed in on another power play opportunity with Seguin launching a wrister from the center of the attacking end over the blocker of Kirton to give Westfield a two-goal lead with 8:42 to go in the game where they would hold Rivier off the scoreboard to lock up the win.

After no scoring in the first period, five goals were scored between the two sides in the middle stanza with the Raiders striking first on a goal from Mason Rudrud. With 11:04 remaining in the second, the Owls finally broke through on their 26^th shot on goal and the 41^st overall shot attempt thanks to Jesper Seeberg (Lake Worth, Fla.) who picked up the loose puck after a wraparound attempt from Cannon Bonifay (Fort Worth, Texas) trickled to the center of the offensive end, leading to a close shot goal from Seeberg.

Two minutes later, Westfield took their first lead of the night after strong play at the blue line by Finegan who kept the puck in the offensive end. He settled the puck on the blue line then tapped a pass to the boards to Nicolas Coppola (Glendale, Ariz.) where he found Xavier Tremblay (Sainte-Adele, Quebec) who ripped home the go-ahead score with under nine minutes left in the second.

The Owls allowed two goals in the back half of the frame, including a second goal by Rudrud 22 seconds before the intermission, giving Rivier a 3-2 advantage entering the final period.

Westfield put forth a heavy dose of shots on goal throughout the night, outshooting the Raiders 52-18 including a dominant third period where the Owls owned a 17-4 shots on goal edge. Aiden Winslow (Jacksonville, Fla.) had 15 saves for the Owls and Kirton made 46 stops for Rivier. The Raiders had ten infractions for 39 penalty minutes, allowing Westfield to take control with several power play chances in the third.

Four Owls players recorded multiple point nights with Seguin leading the way with two goals. Finegan notched a goal and an assist while Coppola and Pichette tallied two assists.

Westfield State will have one game before the break as the Owls host Assumption on Thursday at 7:35 P.M. from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass.