WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior Cory Morris (Kahnawake, Quebec) delivered the game-winning, shorthanded goal, and junior Kevin Chandler (Hanover, Mass.) racked up 35 saves as the Owls used a three-goal third period to power past Post University 3-1 on Tuesday night.
The Owls have now won three of their last four games, improving to 8-9-1 after the nonconference win. Post drops to 5-15 on the season.
Both teams were held scoreless through two periods of action and after being held without a goal for the first 47:17 of the night, the Owls offense caught fire in the third by scoring three goals in a span of six minutes and 28 seconds.
The scoring began with a shorthanded goal by Morris 7:17 into the third which served as a momentum shift in the game.
After the Morris tally, the Owls quickly doubled their lead with Cooper Board (Salem, Mass.) recording his team-leading eighth goal of the season two minutes and 19 seconds later on feeds from Gianluca Marini (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) and Justin Collins (Wilmington, Mass.) to put the Owls in control with 10:24 remaining in the game.
Westfield would further distance themselves just under four minutes later with JoJo Carbone (Marshfield, Mass.) scoring his seventh goal of the season to give the Owls a 3-0 advantage with 6:15 left in the contest.
Post forward Connor Barter (Lowell, Mass.) would finally break the scoreless night for the Eagles 45 seconds after the Carbone goal, but the Owls soared to victory in part to the strong goaltending by Chandler in his second start of the season.
The Owls held a 41-36 shots advantage with both goaltenders compiling impressive stat lines. Chandler picked up his second win in as many starts, while Zach Richards (Hampstead, Md.) registered 38 saves in a losing effort for the Eagles.
Both teams were held scoreless across eight total power plays, but special teams certainly played a role in the outcome with the Owls penalty-killing unit securing the biggest play of the night with a shorthanded goal.
Westfield State will travel to UMass Dartmouth in a MASCAC game in their next matchup on Thursday for a 7:30 P.M. puck drop.