Special Teams Carry Owls to Victory Over Worcester, 2-1

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Emile Pichette (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) scored a power play goal late in the second period, then Cooper Board (Salem, Mass.) added a shorthanded marker early in the third to propel Westfield State to a 2-1 win over Worcester State in a MASCAC game from Amelia Park Arena on Thursday night.

The Owls improve to 13-6-1 on the season and remain in third place in the conference standings at 6-2-1 and 19 points. The Lancers slide to 2-5-3 in the MASCAC and 9-8-4 overall.

Neither team got in the scoring column in the opening period and it appeared the second intermission was heading to a scoreless affair until an interference penalty against the Lancers gave the Owls a power play opportunity with just under two minutes left in the period.

Pichette won the opening draw then roamed to the left face-off dot, eventually receiving a pass from Raphael Seguin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec) who possessed the puck at the point then connected with Pichette who laced a one-timer past Donovan Alfama for the first goal of the night between either side. Louis Ouellet (Baie-Comeau, Quebec) was also credited with an assist, swinging the puck back to Seguin to create a triangle between the two passes and shot. 

Pichette's goal was his team-leading ninth of the campaign and now has 20 points.

54 seconds into the third period, the Owls committed a slashing penalty, giving the Lancers a chance to tie the game. Instead, Westfield doubled their lead with Board intercepting a pass at center ice, setting up a breakaway where he tucked a low shot through the five-hole of Alfama that had just enough speed to cross the goal line for a 2-0 advantage with 18:28 left in regulation.

Worcester cut the deficit in half later in the stanza with Bryce Grandbois capitalizing off an Owls turnover which resulted in the puck trickling to the center of the offensive zone where he ripped a shot past Aiden Winslow (Jacksonville, Fla.) with 12:05 remaining.

Less than 30 seconds later, the Lancers nearly tied the game after a shot from Myles Kidd rang off the post. Westfield hit the post earlier in the game off the stick of Brett Williams (Easton, Mass.) with the game still knotted up at zero.

The Lancers picked up their offensive pressure in the closing three minutes of the game with Winslow stopping five shots during that stretch to hold on to the victory. Winslow made 13 of his 24 saves in the final frame, picking up his tenth win of the season.

The Owls outshot the Lancers 34-24 with Alfama stopping 32 shots on goal.

Special teams served as the difference in the game between the two sides with the Owls converting on a power play chance while holding Worcester scoreless on two tries while also tacking on a shorthanded goal to punctuate the Owls scoring.

Westfield State will be back on the road for their next game on Saturday against MCLA for a 5:00 P.M. puck drop and will then finish the regular season with three of their last four games at home. Worcester State returns home to face the top team in the MASCAC in Fitchburg State on Saturday at 6:00 P.M.