NORTH DARTMOUTH – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s men’s ice hockey team scored twice in the third period to from behind and tie Westfield State, 3-3 in overtime, in a Massachusetts Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Stephan Hetland Memorial Ice Arena Thursday evening.
Senior forward Nick Marquis (Londonderry, NH/Valley Jr. Warriors) scored after a turnover to cut the WSU lead to 3-2 at 11:47 of the third period, and sophomore forward Shaun Walters (Plymouth, MI/Rochester Ice Hawks-MNJHL) tied the game when he scored on a rebound at 13:49.
Each team scored in the first period. Freshman forward P.J. McCadden (Mount Sinai, NY/South Shore Kings-EJHL) put Westfield State up, 1-0, in the first period when he flipped home the rebound of a shot by sophomore forward T.J. Powers (East Greenwich, RI/Fresno Monsters-NAHL) at 7:55 of the first period.
Senior forward William Colclough (Naples, FL/Peoria Mustangs-CSHL) tied the score with six seconds remaining in the period when he fired home a goalmouth pass from freshman forwardv Evangelos Stefanou (Tabernacle, NJ/East Coast Eagles-EJHL). Freshman forward Kyle Johnston (Charlotte, MI/Richmond Generals-MET) also drew an assist.
Westfield State scored twice in the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Junior forward Taylor Murphy (Toronto, ON/Markham Waxers-OJHL) broke the tie when he raced down the ice and scored at 1:12.
Then junior forward Vince Perreault (Braeside, ON/Kemptville 73s-CJHL) made it 3-1 when he took a pass from sophomore forward Nic Vidoni (Stittsville, ON/Carleton Place Canadiens-CJHL) and fired home a shot from short range at 19:37 after the Corsairs had just killed off a two-man disadvantage.
“It was a well-earned point,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach John Rolli. “We’ve been looking for our team to fight back, and to come back from a two-goal deficit in the third period was huge. It was good to come back, (junior goaltender) Ben Vandervies (Hanna, AB/Golden Rockets-KJHL) played well in goal, and our fourth line got us another goal for the second consecutive game. It was the type of gritty, hard-working effort that we needed.”
The Corsairs outshot the Owls, 49-38, including 9-1 in overtime. Vandervies made 35 saves for UMD, while sophomore Ian Perrier (Whitehorse, YT/Dryden Ice Dogs-SIJHL) made 46 saves for WSU.
UMass Dartmouth is now 6-5-3 and 5-2-2 in the MASCAC, while Westfield State is 9-6-1 and 5-4-1 in the MASCAC. The Corsairs will return to action when they visit Fitchburg State Saturday. The Owls host Salem State Monday, Jan. 21, at 2:35 p.m.
