Westfield, Mass. – Salem State net-minder Aaron Mercer (Corner Brook, Newfoundland) recorded thirty saves in his second start of the season as Westfield State was unable to overcome a first-period deficit, which led to a 3-1 loss on the road at Rockett Arena. The defeat moves the Owls to 7-6-2 overall, while sliding to 2-4-2 in conference play. The Vikings won their second consecutive game, pushing their record to 5-8 and 3-6 in MASCAC action.
The Owls fell behind four minutes into the first period as Erik Larsson (Lake Tahoe, Calif.) dropped a pass back to Keagan O'Donoghue (Frisco, Texas) who would wrist a shot in tight and past Owls goalie Valtteri Valtonen (Helsinki, Finland) to put the Vikings up 1-0. At the midway point of the period, Peyton Hughes (Northridge, Calif.) back-tapped a pass right into the middle of the attacking zone where Billy McGwin (Rochester, N.Y.) deposited the goal for a quick 2-0 lead. Junior forward Mathieu Jones (Gatineau, Quebec) nearly cut the deficit in half, as his shot caught Mercer right in the facemask, but the Owls were shutout in the period despite holding a 14-9 advantage in shots.
In the second period, the Owls would take advantage of a Salem penalty as sophomore Dawson Garcia (Oakville, Ontario) would feed the puck to senior Jake Ratcliffe (Auckland, New Zealand) who would wrist a shot on net that was deflected in front by captain John-Michael DiGregorio (Montreal, Quebec) and into the net for his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-1. However, the Vikings would answer with 1:40 remaining in the period as Connor Woolley (Poughquag, N.Y.) collected a shot off the crossbar and then fired the puck into the back of the net to regain a two goal lead.
Valtonen stopped 21 of 24 shots in the game, and Mercer registered 30 saves on 31 shots.
Westfield State held the advantage in shots on goal (31-24) and also controlled the face-off dot, winning 55% of the draws in the game. The Owls scored on one of their three power plays awarded, while the Vikings were unable to score in five power play opportunities.
Westfield State will look to get back in the win column in their first home game since December 9th as the Owls host UMass Dartmouth from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass. on Thursday at 7:35 P.M.