Roman Pfennings (left) and Nik Passero (right) react to a late save by Framingham State. (Courtesy of Westfield State)
WESTFIELD – Westfield State erased a four-goal deficit, but surrendered a late goal, falling to Framingham State, 5-4, in MASCAC hockey action Thursday evening in the 7th annual Pink-in-the-Rink game at Amelia Park Ice Arena.
Framingham State staked itself to a 4-0 lead after one period, but Westfield State scored the next four goals, evening the game on a Nik Passero goal—his third of the night– with 10:10 left in the game.
Rams sophomore forward Tyler Colacchio (Bellingham, Mass.), however, poked home a rebound in a mad scramble in front of the net for the game-winning goal with just under nine minutes remaining.
With the win, Framingham State secured a spot in the MASCAC Tournament, improving to 4-11-1 in the conference and 5-17-1 overall. Westfield State drops to 12-12 on the season, and sits in fifth place in the MASCAC at 8-9.
The Rams scored the first goal seven minutes into the first period. Melvin Nichols won a faceoff, playing it directly back to junior forward Cam Coburn, who passed across ice to junior defenseman Vaughn Guetens (Cheshire, Conn.), who scored on a one-timer slap shot from the blue line.
Freshman forward Cameron Klahre (Ashburnham, Mass.) scored the next two goals for Framingham, beating Owls goaltender Jonathan LoParco (Vaughn, Ont.) through the five-hole with six minutes remaining in the first period, then scoring a breakaway after two Owls collided at center ice and allowed Klahre behind the defense.
Sophomore forward Keith Barnaby (Leominster, Mass.) added a fourth goal with 48 seconds left in the period, flipping a shot over LoParco’s shoulder pad.
Passero scored two goals in a three-goal second period for the Owls. With 10:39 left in the second period, Passero took a pass from freshman forward Aaron Clancy (Quincy, Mass.) and fired a wrist shot past Rams junior goaltender Alessio Muggli (Rueti, Switzerland).
Twenty seconds later, senior forward Dalton Jay (Hamilton, Ont.) fed Colby Daniels (Leask, Sask.), who fired a shot into the top left corner of the net from the left faceoff circle to pull the Owls within two.
Passero added his second goal on another nice pass from Jay, who found Passero behind the Rams defense for a snipe shot shorthanded goal with 59 seconds remaining in the second period.
After LoParco gave up four goals in the first period, freshman goaltender Jake Carter (El Segundo, Calif.) played the final two periods in net, making 15 saves on 16 shots. Muggli made 32 saves to earn the win for the Rams.
Framingham State dominated the faceoff game, 37-24, though they were actually outshot on the evening, 33-24.
Westfield State’s Pink-in-the-Rink game is supported by the Coaches vs. Cancer Foundation and aims to raise awareness and money for cancer research.
The Owls have one final regular season game—at Plymouth State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.—before the MASCAC Tournament. Framingham State returns to the rink on Saturday when it hosts Salem State at 7:40 p.m. – Courtesy of Westfield State Sports
