Collins Nets Overtime Winner to Send Owls to Conference Semifinals

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior forward Justin Collins (Wilmington, Mass.) deposited the game-winning goal 1:37 into overtime to lift the Owls to a 2-1 victory over UMass Dartmouth on a Saturday afternoon in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinal game from Hetland Arena.

The victory advances the Owls into the MASCAC semifinals, where the Owls were one of three lower seeds to advance into the next round. The win moves Westfield State to 13-10-2 overall while UMass Dartmouth drops to 9-14-2 and are eliminated from tournament play.

Westfield set up the sudden death winner with a quick neutral zone entry, as sophomore defenseman Cullen Young (Maynard, Mass.) fed the puck along the boards in the defensive end to sophomore Gianluca Marini (Lighthouse Point, Fla.), who then centered a pass to Collins. Collins collected the pass and sped past the defending Corsairs, tucking the puck through the five-hole of Dartmouth goaltender Daniel Davidson (Surrey B.C.) to send the Owls home with a victory. Jake Ratcliffe (Auckland, New Zealand) and Marini were credited with the assists on the game-winner. The Collins goal was the opening shot on net in the overtime period for either side.

The Owls had to come from behind to force the overtime period as the Corsairs struck first at the 4:29 mark in the opening period as graduate student Melker Kroon (Malmo, Sweden) collected a loose puck in the crease and buried it into the back of the net to put the Corsairs on the board. Jimmy Pelton (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Dominic Dumas (Boise, Idaho) added assists on the goal.

The score would remain 1-0 until late in the second period when Owls graduate student Chuck Costello (Philadelphia, Pa.) ripped a wrist shot from the point towards the top left corner of the net to give Westfield the equalizing goal on the power play. Junior Joseph Carbone (Marshfield, Mass.) tallied the assist on the scoring play.

There was no scoring in the third period, but both teams had legitimate chances, particularly late in the third period. The performance of Owls net-minder Valtteri Valtonen (Helsinki, Finland) was key to forcing sudden death as UMass Dartmouth was awarded a power play with seven minutes remaining in the period. Valtonen came up with three saves to kill the penalty and preserve the tie. The Owls also had a significant chance of their own with under a minute left in regulation when senior captain John-Michael DiGregorio (Montreal, Quebec) fired a shot on Davidson that was stopped, but not frozen as the puck sat in the middle of the crease. A group of Corsairs fell on the puck in the goalie's crease to stop any further chances and ultimately send the game to overtime.

Valtonen stood tall in net for Westfield, saving 38 of 39 shots faced including 17 saves in the third period alone. Davidson was equally tough for the Corsairs in the game as well, stopping 33 of 35 shots on net. Both teams had six minor penalties across the three regulation periods. The Owls converted on one of their two power plays given, and UMass Dartmouth was held scoreless on their own man advantage chances, going 0-2.

Since all the lower seeds won in their MASCAC quarterfinal match-ups, the fifth seeded Owls are the second highest seed remaining in the tournament, and will be on home ice for a MASCAC semifinal game against sixth seeded Salem State from Amelia Park Arena on Tuesday at 7:35 P.M. Top seeded Plymouth State, who received a bye in the opening round, will face-off against seventh seeded Framingham State in the other semifinal contest.