Ice Hockey Falls To UMD, 7-1
(Courtesy UMass Dartmouth Sports Information)

NEW BEDFORD, MA– The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s hockey team scored four goals in the third period to break the game open and defeated visiting Worcester State, 7-1 , in an Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast game at the Stephan Hetland Memorial Ice Arena Thursday evening.

Senior forward Jeff Grant tapped in a cross-crease pass from freshman forward Billy Manning (Stoughton, MA/Bridgewater Jr. Bandits) to give the Corsairs a 4-1 lead 2:37 into the third period. A minute and five seconds later, junior forward Nick Paquin (Warwick, RI/Winchendon Academy) scored on a rebound. Freshman forward Joe Hill (Newburyport, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors) and junior defenseman Eric Quinlan (Saugus, MA/Avon Old Farms) also scored for UMass Dartmouth in the third period. Tom Ford scored for WSC.

The Corsairs had scored three times in the first period and led, 3-0, after two periods. Junior center Paul Jerusik (Springfield, MA/Lawrence Academy) took a pass from sophomore forward Matt Berard (Calgary, AB/Berkshire School) and beat Worcester State goaltender Brian Robinson with a wrist shot from the slot at 8:06. Berard deflected home a shot from the point by sophomore defenseman Graeme Bourne (Redlands, CA/Campbell River Storm) to make it 2-0 at 11:32, with senior defenseman Jon Finn (Warwick, RI/Boston Harborwolves) also assisting. Berard then intercepted a pass and fed Manning, who fired home a wrist shot to make it 3-0 at the 16:12 mark of the first period.

  Junior goaltender Jeff Green (Medway, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors) with a wrist shot from the point to break a 2-2 tie with nine seconds remaining on a hooking penalty to Corsairs’ junior forward Peter Shelzi (Belmont, MA/Connecticut AHA).

UMass Dartmouth had come from behind twice to tie the game. Senior forward Paul Garabedian (Belmont, MA/Belmont HS) scored on the rebound of a shot by sophomore forward Pat Welch (Dorchester, MA/Bay State Breakers) to tie the game at 1-1 at 7:39 of the second period. Shelzi also drew an assist. Junior forward Nick Paquin (Warwick, RI/Winchendon Academy) intercepted a pass and scored a shorthanded, unassisted goal to tie the score at 2-2 less than six minutes later.

Roger Trousdale gave the Oles a 1-0 lead when he scored the only goal of the first period at the 9:26 mark. Mike McMillan gave St. Olaf a 2-1 advantage when he scored on the rebound of his own shot at 11:15 of the second period, just after a UMass Dartmouth penalty had expired.

“We were very unselfish with the puck tonight, and we scored some nice goals. Our fourth line did a nice job, and showed that they wanted to be in the lineup. It was important because it was a league game, and it was nice to be back at Hetland in front of our home crowd.”

The Corsairs, who converted none of their five power play opportunities while stopping Worcester State on all six of their chances, out shot the Lancers, 39-16. Junior goaltender Jeff Green (Medway, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors) made 14 saves, while freshman goaltender Collin Tracy )Medford, MA/Medford HS), who played the final 10 minutes, made one stop. Robinson stopped 32 shots for WSC.

UMass Dartmouth improved to 6-4-1 and 5-0-0 in ECAC Northeast play with the victory, while Worcester State dropped to 1-12-0 and 1-6-0 with the defeat. The Corsairs will return to action when they visit Assumption in an Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast game Saturday night, while WSC will visit Nichols Sunday evening.

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