WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State sophomore Cooper Board (Salem, Mass.) opened the game's scoring and Kevin Chandler (Hanover, Mass.) posted a 27-save shutout to lift the Owls to a 4-0 win over Framingham State in a MASCAC Quarterfinal game from Amelia Park Arena on Thursday evening.
The Owls advance into the MASCAC Semifinals where they will travel to top-seeded and 13th-nationally ranked Plymouth State University on Saturday at 6:00 P.M. from Plymouth, N.H. The Rams 2024 season comes to an end, finishing with an overall mark of 8-16-2.
Westfield opened the scoring with under six minutes left in the first period with Ryan O'Halloran (Burlington, Mass.) delivering a pass from behind the Rams net to the tape of Board who deposited a shot passed Trevor Stenberg (Mendham, N.J.) to give Westfield a 1-0 lead.
Cullen Young (Maynard, Mass.) doubled the Owls lead just three minutes later, tipping a shot from Gianluca Marini (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) past a slew of players in front of the net to open up a 2-0 lead.
Neither team found the back of the net in the second period, but each team relied on their penalty-killing units to keep the score at 2-0. A pair of alternating major penalties gave both teams an opportunity to control the momentum, with the Rams going on the man-advantage at the midway point of the second period.
Westfield penalty killers were stout and active for the duration of the five-minute major, with Framingham's best scoring chance coming off a one-timer from Samuel Larkin (Douglas, Mass.) that was blocked by a diving Young. The Owls blocked three shots across the major penalty time, coming out unscathed.
In the third period, Ryan Moorhouse (Westfield, Mass.) added an insurance goal with under seven to go, collecting a wrap-around shot from Christopher Miraldo (Montreal, Quebec) and burying the Owls third goal of the night.
Brett Williams (Easton, Mass.) sealed the victory for Westfield in the final minute, potting an empty-net marker to punch their ticket to Plymouth, N.H.
Chandler (W, 6-5-1) stopped all 27 shots faced, 12 of which came in the third period while Framingham was attempting to get back into the contest. Stenberg (L, 7-11-2) recorded 21 saves for the Rams. Framingham outshot Westfield 27-25 in the game.
Westfield will travel to Plymouth State for a MASCAC Semifinal game, where the Owls were 1-1-1 head-to-head against the Panthers in the regular season.