Owls Fall to Anna Maria in MASCAC Championship, 3-0

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Anna Maria College goaltender and Tournament MVP Matt Hennessey made 48 saves to shut out Westfield State, 3-0 in the 2026 MASCAC Ice Hockey Championship game at Horgan Arena in Auburn, Mass. on Saturday evening.

Westfield State wraps up its best season since returning to the ice in the 2008-09 season with an 18-8-2 overall record.

Anna Maria wins the conference title for the first time, with a 20-5-2 overall record, setting a school-record for wins and earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which will be announced on an NCAA.com livestream selection show at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The two teams battled through a scoreless first period.

In the first period Westfield State sophomore netminder Aiden Winslow stood tall in net, making 20 saves, while the Owls had several grade A scoring chances.    Brett Williams' shot was saved off a centering pass from Jackson Gruber in the first three minutes of the game.

Liam Krupcyznski was stuffed by Hennessey on a two-on-one break with Emile Pichette with 12:30 left.

Another shot hit the crossbar and bounced out.

Henessey stopped 12 shots in the first frame as the two teams went to the locker rooms scoreless.

Early in the second period, Westfield senior captain Cooper Board picked the pocket of an Anna Maria defenseman at the blueline and broke in 1-on-1 with Hennessy making the blocker save to keep the game scoreless.

A Westfield State miscue led to the first Anna Maria goal, as Winslow came off his line to play the puck, just as a defenseman arrived on the scene.  Winslow's clearing pass didn't come off the stick cleanly and Anna Maria sophomore forward Dylan McElhinny took the loose puck and buried it in the empty net for a 1-0 lead with 12:45 left in the period.

The AmCats doubled the lead with 10 seconds left in the period.  After winning a face off in the neutral zone, Nicholas Fredrick sent a hard centering pass in front of the Owls net, and Hayden Rynard tapped in the goal for a 2-0 lead.

Westfield got four power plays in the third and peppered shots at the AMC goal, but couldn't get a goal through.  Hennessey made 19 saves in the third period alone, and the AmCats blocked a dozen shots as well.     The Owls pulled Winslow for much of the final 2:45 of the game in an effort to get a tying goal, but despite having a 6-on-4 advantage for much of that time with the extra skater on, the Owls couldn't muster a goal.

AMC's Braeden McKinnon added an empty-net goal with 1:40 to play for the final margin.

Winslow finished with a season-best 43 saves for the Owls after making 41 in the semifinal round.

Westfield was seeking their first MASCAC title.  The Owls will graduate nine seniors from this season's squad.