Hockey Wins Preseason Exhibition

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Westfield State men's ice hockey shook the rust off in a big way as the Owls skated to a 10-2 win over the Ligue de Hockey Junior du Qubec AAA's traveling all-star team in the Owls exhibition opener at Amelia Park Arena on Thursday afternoon.

The Owls used an explosive second period, outscoring Quebec 7-0 in the frame to put the game out of reach. 

Emile Pichette (St. Eustache, Quebec) scored two goals with two assists, and Julian Boisclair (Voorhees, N.J.)and Louis Oullett (Baie-Comeau, Quebec) each netted two goals and an assist for the Owls.

The first period was a back and forth affair, with the two teams trading a pair of goals before Westfield's Ryan Moorhouse (Westfield, Mass.) drove the puck to the net on a breakaway with 7.5 seconds left in the period for a 3-2 lead and what would prove to be the game winning goal.

Quebec was forced to make an early goalie change as starter Nicholas St. Pierre left the game after two shots and two goals.

Westfield stacked up seven goals in the decisive second period, highlighted by two each from Oullet and Boisclair.

After a deflating second period, Quebec responded with more energy after the second intermission and played the Owls to a stalemate in the third period, which was highlighted when Westfield State goaltender Duncan Nichols-Delay (Calgary, Alberta) stymied Quebec's Zachary Laroque on a penalty shot try midway through the period.

Laroque factored in the scoring with an assist on Quebec's second goal of the day.  Mattheiu Derome tallied the first marker to tie the game at 1-1 just 4:15 in, and then Zach Chapleau-Yelle netted the juniors second of the day at 13:30 of the first to tie the game at 2-2.

Both teams rotated their goaltenders in the exhibition.  Westfield got seven saves each from Esteban Gauthier (Sainte Julie, Quebec) and Aiden Winslow (Jacksonville, Fla.), with Nichols-Delay stopping nine shots in the third.

St. Pierre started for the juniors, but didn't make a save in just over nine minutes of play.  Herve Leon-Dilworth came in midway through the first, and stopped 19 of 27 shots faced, facing several breakaway tries in the second period.  Etienne Yaccarini made eight saves in the scoreless third period.

The players from Quebec had a chance to visit the Westfield State campus during the morning while on a tour of several colleges in the northeast.

The Owls open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 1 at home against Franklin Pierce, with a 7:35 start at Amelia Park, as part of the Western Mass Invitational Tournament the Owls co-host with Western New England University.  Westfield is the defending champ in the tournament, having beaten WNE in last year's title game, 6-2.