Salem State Shuts Out Ice Hockey, 3-0, In Semester Finale

Worcester, MA --- Salem State junior Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, RI/Philadelphia Revolution) had a goal and an assist while sophomore Alex Minter (Peabody, MA/Boston Jr. Rangers) and senior Chad Goodwin (Whitinsville, MA/Salve Regina) each added one marker each as the visiting Vikings shut out Worcester State, 3-0, this evening in men's MASCAC ice hockey action at the Hart Recreation Center.

The Vikings improve to 5-3 on the campaign and 3-3 in league play while the Lancers fall to 2-7-2 and 1-4-1 in the MASCAC.

Freshman goaltender Jason Pucciarelli (Newmarket, ON/North York Rangers) stopped all 28 shots that came his way en route to his first career shutout for Salem State. He also marked his first career assist in the triumph while improving to a perfect 4-0 in between the pipes.

After a scoreless first period in which the visitors outshot the Blue and Gold 11-5, Minter was able to put the visitors ahead five minutes into the second frame on the power play when he tipped home a loose puck on a scramble in front of the net for his first goal of the campaign.

The Lancers had minimal scoring chances, but their best opportunity came late in the first period when the Vikings were called for consecutive penalties that set up a 5 on 3 power play for almost a minute in a half. Pucciarelli made a couple of key saves during the penalty kill and the Salem State defense thwarted any further Worcester State scoring bids to keep the game scoreless.

Bettencourt added an insurance goal with 1:34 left in the second stanza when he snuck behind the Lancers defense following a long Worcester State offensive flurry that saw three consecutive shots from the left circle by senior Nathan Stanley (Meridian, ID/Idaho Jr. Steelheads) turned away by Pucciarelli.

The puck was eventually cleared into the neutral zone by freshman Derek Makimaa (Swartz Bay, WI/Utica College) and found a streaking Bettencourt who had just come in from a line change and beat Worcester State junior goalie Drew Case (Plano, TX/Northern Cyclones) for the 2-0 advantage.

Senior Rich Ledy (Marquette, MI/Soo Thunderbirds) nearly put the Lancers on the board midway through the second period when he redirected a shot from the point that grazed Pucciarelli on the shoulder before narrowly missing the crossbar to keep the Blue and Gold off the scoreboard.

Goodwin added his team leading fourth goal of the campaign 14:01 into the third stanza on assists by freshman Mackenzie Cook (Reading, MA/Boston Jr. Bruins) and senior Kristofer Faric (Whitby, ON/Castleton State) when he beat Case on a shot from the right circle to give the Blue and Orange the 3-0 edge.

Case collected 28 saves in the loss to fall to 1-1 while the Vikings finished with the 31-28 margin in shots on goal.

The penalty battle was even as both sides committed four infractions on the evening with Salem State converting on one of four opportunities. Meanwhile, the Lancers were unsuccessful on all four chances.

Tonight's contest closes out the first third of the MASCAC slate for the Lancers. They will not play again this semester until they take on Cortland State on Thursday, January 8 in a 6 PM non-conference tilt. Meanwhile, the Vikings will travel to nationally-ranked Babson on Wednesday for a 7 o'clock puck drop.

Story written by Sports Information Intern Michael Corso '12