Ice Hockey Eliminated By Westfield State In MASCAC Quarterfinals

Westfield, MA --- Westfield State junior Kyllian Kirkwood (Copper Cliff, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) deposited two goals and chipped in with an assist to help pace the fourth-seeded Owls to a 6-3 victory over #5 Worcester State in the MASCAC Tournament quarterfinals this evening at the Amelia Park Rink.

Westfield State (12-12-2) moves ahead to the semifinals to take on top-seed Plymouth State this Tuesday at 6 PM. The Lancers end their season at 9-15-2 overall as the squad made their sixth consecutive appearance in the conference playoffs.

Following a scoreless deadlock that lasted nearly 35 minutes, freshman Sean Haltam (Medina, OH/Ogden Mustangs) put the Blue and Gold on the board when he slipped a goal around the other side of the net with passes by senior Nathan Stanley (Meridian, ID/Idaho Jr Steelheads) and classmate Cody Osburn (Sacramento, CA/Fresno Monsters).

The hosts responded with two quick goals to go up 2-1 in a span of 11 seconds.

Kirkwood fired a rocket from the point for the first tally with 3:33 on the clock before sophomore Maxine Richard (Trois-Rivieres, Quebec/Amherst Ramblers) put the Owls on top by taking the faceoff from freshman Lenny Caglianone (Matawan, NJ/New Jersey Rockets) and finishing a blast to the top right corner.

Worcester State came right back and tied up the score as exactly 3:00 remained in the period as junior Alex Taddeo (Franklin, MA/Boston Jr Rangers) tipped in a pass by sophomore Colin Edwards (Winchester, MA/Junior Mariners).

But Kirkwood notched a key marker with 11 ticks remaining in the middle frame to give Westfield State the 3-2 advantage momentum heading into the second intermission. He potted the marker from the right side point after passes from senior Frank Zuccaro (Newmarket, Ontario/Orangeville Flyers) and junior Dalton Jay (Hamilton, Ontario/Hamilton Red Wings).

Westfield State built up the early three goal edge in the third as freshman Roman Pfennings (Grefrath, Germany/Connecticut Oilers) and classmate Cody Campbell-Rich (Bellingham, WA/Bellingham Blazers) registered tallies to start off the third for the 5-2 margin.

Senior Vinny Bohn (Spring Hill, FL/El Paso Rhinos) with a slap shot from the right side of the neutral zone to give the Lancers some life around the midway point, however, the Owls had other plans as freshman Nick Passero (Fort Erie, Ontario/Fort Erie Meteors) lit up the lamp with 4:48 left in regulation to account for the final score.

Senior Ian Perrier (Whitehorse Territory, Yukon/Dryden Ice Dogs) turned aside 22 shots for the hosts as he saw his record move to 11-8-2 in the victory.

Freshman Tyler Fallica (Coram, NY/Ogden Mustangs) stopped 25 shots in 58:23 minutes of action. Fallica ended his rookie year with a 7-8-1 record and a 2.94 goals against average, which is fifth in the MASCAC.

Westfield State led in shots, 31-25, but only converted one of their five tries with the extra man advantage. The markers for Haltam and Bohn were both on the power play as the visitors went 2-for-5.

After ending his night with two helpers, Stanley ends his career with exactly 75 points (31 goals – 44 assists) in 93 contests, which is among the top 35 point scorers in program history.