WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior Gianluca Marini (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) scored the go-ahead goal and Nicolas Coppola (Glendale, Ari.) buried a crucial insurance goal to propel the Owls to a 6-5 victory over Salem State in a MASCAC clash from Amelia Park Arena on Saturday evening.
The Owls improve to 11-7-1 on the season and 8-6-1 in the conference. The Vikings drop to 5-14 overall and 5-10 in the MASCAC.
Westfield blitzed Salem in the opening period, tallying three goals in the frame beginning with Marini who toe dragged with the puck behind the Vikings net before flipping a backhand pass towards the middle where Dawson Garcia (Oakland, Ontario) was able to line up a one-timer to open the game's scoring 4:46 into play.
The Owls doubled their lead with a powerplay tally from Brett Williams (Middleboro, Mass.) on a quick re-entry into the offensive zone to connect for his first of the night with just under 13 minutes to play.
A strong forecheck by the Owls allowed Christopher Miraldo (Montreal, Quebec) to catch the puck on his stick in the middle of the offensive zone where he ripped a low shot past Vikings goaltender Hunter Thomas (Schwenksville, Pa.) to enter the first intermission with a three-goal advantage.
Williams picked the top corner of the net for his second goal of the night to begin the scoring in the second period before Salem took control of the period, registering three goals in a span of a minute and 15 seconds to trim the Owls lead to one goal.
Luke Pepin (Lee, N.H.) potted the Vikings first goal of the game on a snapshot from the point to make it a 4-1 contest just over the halfway point of the frame.
Salem then scored a pair of goals just nine seconds apart from one another after Keegan O'Donoghue (Frisco, Tex.) rifled home his 11th goal of the season, then on the ensuing faceoff, Salem generated an immediate two-on-one rush with Landyn Greatorex (Reading, Mass.) feeding Carson Whitman (Boston, Mass.) directly in front of the net to cut the deficit to one goal, forcing an Owls timeout.
With Westfield leading by one entering the third period, Salem found the equalizer and their fourth unanswered goal of the contest off the stick of Carson James (Falmouth, Maine), tying the game at four goals apiece with 14:14 left in regulation.
The Owls would find the next two goals of the game to regain the lead thanks to Marini who gathered a rebound off of a Daniel Finegan (Chicago, Ill.) shot and chipped the puck past Thomas with 11:33 left. Just over three minutes later, Coppola skated in behind the Salem defense and tucked home a backhander to extend the lead.
Chase Conlon (Anchorage, Alaska) netted Salem's second man-advantage goal of the night to shave Westfield's lead back to one goal with 5:57 to play, but the Owls were able to hold on for the final minutes to secure the win.
The Owls outshot the Vikings 37-25 in the game. Kevin Chandler (Hanover, Mass.) got the start for the Owls, recording 17 saves before Valtteri Valtonen took over for the final 17:20 of the game, making three saves to pick up the win. Thomas (L, 2-3) recorded 31 saves.
Westfield State will host Plymouth State in their next game on Thursday at 7:35 P.M. from Amelia Park in Westfield, Mass. Salem will host Fitchburg State on Thursday at 7:00 P.M.