Lancers Suffer Rare Shutout at Hands of Vikings

SALEM, Mass.  – Joona Sato-Hunsula (Turku, Findland) made 38 saves and Connor Woolley (Poghquag, N.Y.) added a pair of goals as Salem State shutout Worcester State 5-0 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) contest at Rockett Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings improve to 4-8 on the season and 2-6 in the MASCAC while the Lancers slip to 6-8-1 and 4-4-1 in conference. 

It's just the second time all season that Worcester State has failed to score in a game. 

Luke Pepin (Lee, N.H.) put the Vikings on the board first when he went top-shelf on a two-man advantage at the 5:08 mark. Richard Coyle's (Weymouth, Mass.) wrap-around goal extended the lead to 2-0 in favor of Salem State at 14:43. The two teams played to a scoreless second period, but both goalies, Worcester State's Jakub Kubik (Uherske Hradiste, (Czech Republic) and Sato-Hunsula made several outstanding saves, who along with Pepin provided a strong defensive front for Salem State. 

The Vikings put the game away in the third with three unanswered goals. Wooley scored his first of the game before Salem State added back-to-back scores less than 30 seconds apart midway through the period. Joe Smith (Holbrook, Mass.) broke free with a nice feed from Pepin to score an empty net goal as Worcester State pulled Kubik for an extra-attacker. Wooley then added his fist power play goal of the year to make the score 5-0 in favor of Salem State. 

Kubik made 31 saves for the Lancers, who finished 0-for-7 on the power-play.

Worcester State is back on home ice for their next three games, beginning Thursday, January 27th when they host Fitchbur State at 4:40 PM at Worcester Ice Center.