WESTFIELD, Mass. – Rivier graduate student Cody Rumsey (York, Pa.) and first-year Jared Salminen (Port Charlotte, Fla.) scored 39 seconds apart in the second period to break a scoreless game as Westfield State dropped a 3-1 MASCAC contest to the Raiders on Thursday night from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass.
With the loss, the Owls drop to sixth place in the MASCAC standings as they now own a 11-11 overall record and a 7-8 conference mark. The Raiders advance to 6-15-1 on the season and 2-12-1 in the MASCAC.
Neither team found the scoring column in the first period, although Westfield nearly found the game's opening tally as a shot from Jesper Seeberg (Lake Worth, Fla.) caught iron with under five to play in the period. Both goalies notched double digit and clean sheets in the opening frame with Esteban Gauthier (Saint-Julie, Quebec) stopping 12 shots on net while LJ Newell (Littleton, Colo.) made ten saves for Rivier.
In the second period, the Raiders turned up the offensive pressure, resulting in two goals just 39 seconds apart from one another. Rumsey got the scoring started, receiving a perfect saucer pass from Cormac Hayes (East Longmeadow, Mass.) where he would then rip a high shot past Gauthier for a 1-0 lead with 10:21 left.
Rivier doubled their lead immediately starting with a shot from Tyler Duderstadt (Sewickley, Pa.) which was saved by Gauthier with the rebound finding Jake Laville (Toronto, Ontario) who flipped the puck to his backhand where he would push a pass through the crease and behind Gauthier out to Salminen who deposited the goal to extend the lead to two goals.
The Owls were granted a power play opportunity at the close of the second period where Westfield would eventually cut the deficit in half on the other side of the intermission. Christopher Miraldo (Montreal, Quebec) passed the puck to Emile Pichette (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) who then found a cutting Raphael Seguin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec) who wristed home the Owls first goal of the night, making it a 2-1 game 49 seconds into the third.
Despite the early goal, the Owls were bogged down by choppy play down the stretch as a result of several penalties as Westfield served three minor penalties and one major penalty in the period, killing all of them but in the end running out of time.
The Owls pulled Gauthier from the net with 1:11 left in the game with Newell stopping one shot while the Owls added an extra skater. Shortly after the save, Rivier found the empty netter on the tape of Jake Laville, ending Westfield's chances of a third-period comeback.
Rivier held a 39-26 shot advantage over Westfield with Gauthier making 36 saves on 38 shots on goal while Newell made 25 saves for the Raiders.
Westfield State will be back in action on Saturday as the Owls travel to Salem State for their final regular season road game at 6:00 P.M. Rivier, which snapped a seven game losing streak with tonight's win, will visit Framingham State on Saturday at 3:10 P.M.