WESTFIELD – Junior defenseman Killian Kirkwood scored a pair of goals to lead Westfield State, as the Owls skated to a 6–3 win over Worcester State in the MASCAC quarterfinals at Amelia Park on Saturday evening.
After a scoreless first period, the two teams combined to score five goals in the final five minutes of the second period.
Sean Haltam got Worcester on the board first at the 15:11 mark.
Westfield responded with a pair of goals just 11 seconds apart, the first from Kirkwood with a shot from the point that found the top left corner, then off the ensuing faceoff Maxime Richard tallied with a helper from Lenny Calianone for a 2-1 owls lead at the 16:38 mark.
The Lancers answered 22 seconds later with a marker from Alex Taddeo, to tie the game at 2-2, but the Owls took a 3-2 lead to the locker room for the second intermission as Kirkwood launched another bomb from the point with just 11 seconds left in the frame.
Westfield extended the lead with early markers from Roman Pfennings and a power play tally from Cody Campbell-Rich to build a 5-2 lead.
Worcester got one back on a Vinny Bohn power play goal 8:20 into the third, but again the Owls answered, this time with Nik Passero burying a puck in front of the net at the 15:12 mark for the 6-3 final score.
Tyler Fallica made 25 saves for the Lancers before being lifted for the extra skater in the final 1:37 of the contest.
Senior goalie Ian Perrier made 22 saves in goal for the Owls.
Westfield State is now 12–12 – 2 into on the season and will travel to play number one seed Plymouth State at Plymouth on Tuesday at 6 PM.
Worcester ends its season 9-15-2 and had a five-game winning streak snapped.
