WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior goalie Valtteri Valtonen (Helsinki, Finland) racked up 47 saves, but the Owls dropped a non-conference road game against Assumption University 3-1 from Worcester, Mass. on Thursday night.
Playing in their first game since December 10, Westfield got on the scoreboard first as Cooper Board (Salem, Mass.) tallied his team-leading seventh goal of the season off a Gianluca Marini (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) shot to put the Owls in front with 13:07 to play in the first period.
The Greyhounds answered in the second period on a power play goal from Sean O'Connell (Stoneham, Mass.) to tie the game up heading into the third period. Valtonen remained strong between the pipes in the period despite a lopsided shot advantage which saw Assumption pile up 28 shots in the second frame alone. He entered the third period with a total of 37 saves.
Assumption (9-7) would eventually take their first lead of the game with 7:32 remaining in the third. Colin Montgomery (Natick, Mass.) slid the puck over to Michael Zampanti (Winthrop, Mass.) who beat Valtonen to the far post to put the Greyhounds up 2-1. Ryan Decker (Southborough, Mass.) added an insurance goal as he scored a 180' empty-net goal with 16.7 showing on the clock.
The Owls were unable to take advantage of any of their man-advantage opportunities, failing to convert on each of their six chances. Assumption was successful on one of their four power play looks.
The Greyhounds held a lofty 50-23 shots edge in the contest. Assumption goalie Michael Hauswirth (Lincoln, R.I.) remained undefeated in net, improving to 3-0 by recording 22 saves. The 47 saves by Valtonen (L, 4-6-1) was the second most saves in a game this season for the junior netminder who started his 11th game this year.
Westfield State (5-6-1) returns to MASCAC play this weekend as the Owls travel to conference-leading Plymouth State on Saturday for a 6:00 P.M. puck drop in Plymouth, N.H. The Panthers have yet to drop a conference game this season in seven games.