Posted: Feb 10, 2018
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Westfield State University's freshman Danny Ferri (Chelmsford, Mass.) recorded a hat-trick to help propel the Owls past UMass Dartmouth, 7-6, in MASCAC men's ice hockey action Saturday night at Hetland Arena.
The Owls improve to 9-11-1 overall and 7-8 in conference action. The Corsairs are now 9-12-2 on the season and 6-8 in the MASCAC.
The Corsair seniors were present and accounted for as Casey Shea (Woburn, Mass.), Jerry Laasko (Tempere, Finland), Mike Sones (Waterdown, Ont.), Brandon Berkley (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Kris Holmes (Newburyport, Mass.) all logged either an assist or a goal in their final regular-season contest at Hetland Arena. But in the end, it was a freshman, Westfield State's Danny Ferri (Chelmsford, Mass.) who did the damage, as the forward notched his first collegiate hat-trick to propel his team in a game where every goal was crucial.
The Owls came out of the gates firing, controlling the opening period as goals from Ferri bookended the lone Corsair marker by sophomore Steven Leonard (Rockaway Park, N.Y.), who finished as feeds from Shea and Laasko found the forward in open ice.
In the middle session, the momentum dramatically swayed in favor of the Blue & Gold as it poured in four goals to the Owls one. Berkley got it started just 30 seconds into the frame as he converted a pass from Holmes to net a short-handed marker and tie the score at two apiece. UMass Dartmouth controlled the remainder of the period, scoring three more, with goals from Jonathan Ruiz (Williamstown, N.J.) sandwiching one from freshman Dillon Radin (Long Beach, N.Y.).
In the final period, with the Corsairs leading by two, the Owls rattled off four goals to control the scoring. While chasing a one-goal margin, UMass Dartmouth pulled even with 6:29 left to play as Shea put in a goal for his second-consecutive game, taking the feed from Sones and leveling the score at 6-6. With 24 seconds remaining in regulation, Westfield State got the eventual game-winner off the stick of Aaron Clancy (Quincy, Mass.) who sniped a shot from the point to give his team the one-goal margin. UMass Dartmouth threw everything it had offensively in the final ticks of the clock, but were unable to level the score as the horn sounded on the 7-6 setback.
The Corsairs finished 50% when given a power play, converting on 3 of their 6 chances while the Owls were 2-of-5 when given an extra-man.
Drew Michals (Newton, Mass.) totaled 27 saves on 34 shots faced in a complete-game effort while Kameron Limburg (Howell, Mich.) improved his record to 8-10-1, halting 22 shots in a full 60 minutes in net.
The Owls host Worcester State on February 15th with a conference game starting at 7:35 pm.
The Corsairs close out the regular season with back to back games on the road, starting on February 15 when they travel to Framingham State for a 7:30 pm start.