Owls Drop Regular Season Finale Against UMass Dartmouth, 5-4

WESTFIELD, Mass. – UMass Dartmouth sophomore Tyler Stewart (Pittsburgh, Penn.) registered a hat trick and added an assist to lead the Corsairs to a 5-4 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over Westfield State on Saturday evening from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass.

The Owls finish the regular season with an overall record of 12-11-2 and a 9-10-2 mark in the MASCAC. The Corsairs conclude the season with a record of 15-10 and a 13-8 record in the conference. Westfield secure the fourth overall seed in the MASCAC Tournament while UMass Dartmouth earns the third overall seed. 

Prior to puck drop, Westfield State celebrated and honored the teams' seven seniors: Gianluca Marini, Cory Morris, Matt Pelletier, Cullen Young, Dawson Garcia, Kevin Chandler, and Valtteri Valtonen.

Both teams found the back of the net in the opening twenty minutes. Stewart got the Corsairs on the board on the power play, with Jake Maynard (St. John, Ind.) delivering a point pass to Stewart who wristed a shot that got past Owls goaltender Valtteri Valtonen (Helsinki, Finland).

The Owls answered five minutes later with Cullen Young (Maynard, Mass.) forcing a turnover in the neutral zone where he fed Emile Pichette (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) who rifled a shot low and past goalkeeper Daniel Davidson (Surrey, B.C.) to make it a 1-1 game heading into the first intermission.

UMass Dartmouth quickly pushed the lead up to two goals in the first four minutes of the middle frame. Kevin Johnston (Mahwah, N.J.) controlled the puck behind the Owls net, then passed the puck directly through the crease with the pass deflecting off the pad of Valtonen to the stick of Stewart who roofed a shot from the back post to give the Corsairs the lead back.

Another Owls penalty translated into a Corsairs tally after a shot from the point by Lane Ruffner (Latrobe, Penn.) was tipped in front by Walker Smith (Latrobe, Penn.) to give UMass Dartmouth a two-goal advantage with 16 minutes left in the second period.

Westfield fought back to tie the game before the end of the second, with Pichette collecting his second point of the night, backhanding a pass to the middle of the offensive zone to the tape of Christopher Miraldo (Montreal, Quebec) where he rocketed home his team-leading 17^th marker of the year to cut the deficit to one goal.

Andreas Fleutot (Megeve, France) followed with the equalizer with under a minute left in the period, winning a puck battle along the boards before wristing a shot towards Davidson that deflected off the glove and into the net.

With the game tied entering the final period, UMass Dartmouth blitzed the Owls in the opening minutes with Johnston regaining the lead for the Corsairs with his tenth tally of the season. Just four minutes later, Stewart buried his third of the night from a short angle, quickly vaulting the Corsairs lead to two goals.

The Owls attempted a comeback effort, putting together solid offensive rushes while hitting the post on three separate occasions. A pair of penalties committed by Westfield slowed the Owls counter, and a late power play goal from Cooper Board (Salem, Mass.) gave Westfield life, but was ultimately too late.

Valtonen (L, 7-6-1) picked up 27 saves with Davidson (W, 11-8) recording 19 saves as the Corsairs held a 32-23 shots advantage.

Westfield State will host a MASCAC Tournament First Round game on Thursday, February 22 against fifth-seeded Framingham State for a 7:35 P.M. puck drop.