Owls Used Balance Scoring Attack to Fly Past MCLA, 5-2

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior forward Brett Williams (Easton, Mass.) got the scoring started as the Owls had five different goal scorers in a balanced attack, defeating Mass. College of Liberal Arts 5-2 in a MASCAC game from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass. on Thursday night.

The Owls advance to 10-8 on the season and 6-5 in the MASCAC while the Trailblazers drop to 2-15-1 overall and 2-8-1 in the conference.

A pair of first period goals by the Owls third line sparked the scoring in the contest. Colin Roe (Boston, Mass.) corralled a loose puck in the Westfield defensive zone where he would usher a pass up ice to Williams who skated down the left side before wristing a high shot past MCLA goalie Matthew Gover (Atkinson, N.H.) for the 1-0 lead 6:36 into the period.

Minutes later, Williams returned the favor to Roe, collecting the puck off a feed from Nicolas Coppola (Glendale, Ariz.) who centered a pass through the top of the crease to Roe who deposited his third tally of the season to double the lead.

The Owls quickly pushed the lead to four goals in the first 4:12 of the second period, both scores coming from defenseman. First-year William Chausse (La Prairie, Quebec) potted his second goal of the campaign, rocketing a slap shot from the left point into the back of the cage.

With the Owls swarming in the offensive zone, first-year Jere Puronlahti (Helsinki, Finland) buried his first collegiate goal, keeping the puck in the MCLA end then directing a shot through traffic and towards the frame where it would get past Gover to give Westfield a 4-0 advantage with 15:48 left in the second period.

MCLA managed to cut the deficit in half over a string of twenty minutes from the middle of the second period to the middle of the third. The first goal for the Trailblazers came on the power play with Quinn Murphy (Champaign, Ill.) tipping a point shot from Alex Ferris (Enfield, Conn.) past Owls netminder Esteban Gauthier (Sainte-Julie, Quebec) at the 13:54 mark of the second.

The Trailblazers found their skating legs in the early stages of the third, resulting in a goal from Sean Neu (Wake Forest, N.C.) with 5:33 to play in regulation. The Owls responded to the score by holding the Trailblazers to just one shot on goal for the remainder of the game allowing Tomas Muller (Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic) to bury an empty net goal right as Gover was at the bench.

Westfield held a heavy 43-23 shot advantage in the game. Gauthier (W, 3-0) made 21 saves for the Owls and secured his third win in as many starts for Westfield. Gover stopped 38 shots on goal for the Trailblazers.

Westfield State will stay on the road for their next game as the Owls visit Worcester State in a MASCAC contest on Saturday at 5:00 P.M. MCLA will return home to face Fitchburg State in a conference game on Saturday at 5:00 P.M.