Four Third Period Goals Sink Vikings

WESTFIELD, Mass.  – Dan Shea (Hingham, Mass.) and Jimmy Currier (Middleton, Mass.) each scored, but four third period goals by Westfield State gave the Owls a 6-2 MASCAC win on Saturday eveining at Amelia Park Ice Arena.

After a scoreless first period, Jake Ratcliffe (Canterbury, New Zealand) potted his seventh of the season from Aaron Clancy (Quincy, Mass.) and Daniel Backstrom (Helsinki, Finland) only a minute in to the second period to give the Owls the 1-0 lead.

Salem State would strike twice in the span of two minutes on one-timer goals by Shea and Currier to put the Vikings at the head of the ship, 2-1. 

Westfield State would answer on a one-time blast from Justin Collins (Wilmington, Mass.) set up by Danny Ferri (Chelmsford, Mass.) to tie the game once again.

Both teams held significant scoring chances throughout the beginning half of the third period, but the Owls would break through when F.X. Girard would send a nifty pass right to the stick of Daniel Backstrom, who would finish it off just over the right pad of Viking goaltender Sean Cleary (Barnstable, Mass.) to put the Owls ahead 3-2.

Westfield would tack on three more after the eventual game-winner from Backstrom to provide some insurance and secure the victory.

With the win, the Owls improve to 5-5-2 (3-3-0 in the MASCAC) and Salem State drops to 4-7-1 (3-4-0 in MASCAC play).

Westfield State outshot Salem 56-31 in the contest, while goaltender Thierry Messervier (Montreal, Quebec) had 29 saves for the Owls and Cleary stopped 50 shots for the Vikings.