Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Lancers (5-14, 4-11 MASCAC) faced off against the Framingham State Rams (7-11, 7-8 MASCAC) at Loring Arena in Middlesex County for a crucial conference matchup that could impact playoff seeding.
Entering tonight, the three-game series between these two teams is tied up at 1-1. Worcester got the best of the Rams in the first matchup on the road, outscoring the opponent 5-1 in early November. Nearly a month later, the Lancers dropped the second game at home by a score of 2-0.
FINAL: FRAMINGHAM ST. 6 | LANCERS 4
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Worcester struck first late into the period as sophomore forward Anders Grongstad (Royal Oak, Michigan) scored to lift the Lancers to a 1-0 lead. Ten seconds later, the Rams Nathan Gines scored unassisted to tie the game up at 1-1. Nearly three minutes later, Ram plater Scott Burgain scored to give his team the 2-1 lead.
With no goal-action until sixteen minutes remained as Lancer junior forward Matthew Kowal (Monson, Mass.) scored on the assist from sophomore forward Anders Grongstad (Royal Oak, Michigan) and sophomore forward Shane Prifrel (Iner Grove Heights, Minn), the score now tied 2-2. Two minutes later Kowal scored again to give his team the goal advantage, 3-2. Junior defenseman Christian Phinney (Draper, Utah) tallied an assist on the score.
Ten seconds remained when Rams player Ashton Collazo netted one, tying the game at 3-3. Jake Barcelou dished the assist to set up the goal.
With the season on the line, the Lacers came out of the break dialed in. Unfortunately, one minute into the period, junior forward Brigham Neuhold (Edmond, Okla.) was called for tripping. The Rams took advantage of the powerplay scoring 2:42 seconds into the start of the period. Brady Rossbach scored in front of the net to lift his team to a 4-3 lead.
Senior defenseman Jason Lee (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) ripped a shot glove slide that was barely stopped by an amazing save from the Ram goalkeeper. In killer fashion, the next possession for the Rams saw Nathan Gines score on a puck that was dumped into the zone, bouncing off the wall behind the right side of the goalkeeper where Rams Ashton Collazo found Nathan Gines coming from behind the back side of the net where he deked and finished with a score, the score now 5-3.
Worcester made it interesting as they scored on a short-handed goal, Louis Valente (Dracuty, MA) being called for boarding. Nuehold scored again on a short-handed goal, junior defenseman Christian Phinney (Draper, Utah.) being credited with the assist. Rams Brent Scott found the net with two seconds remaining to kill off any hopes of a Lacer comeback.
UPDATED RECORDS:
With the loss, the Lancers drop to (5-15, 4-12 MASCAC) while Framingham St. improves to (8-11, 8-8 MASCAC).
WHAT'S NEXT?:
The Lancers will be back in action on Saturday, February 3rd, playing Westfield St. (11-7-1, 8-6-1 MASCAC) in a home game at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center.