Owls, Skyhawks Fight To 2-2 Stalemate

Foxboro, Mass. -- The Westfield State hockey team skated to a 2-2 non-conference tie with Stonehill College on Thursday afternoon.

The Owls got on the board first when senior captain Francois-Xavier Girard (St. Lazare, Quebec) potted his seventh of the year a little under halfway through the first period to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

Westfield would hold that lead until Nicholas Godin tied it up with a tally of his own midway through the second period.

But then with 2:35 remaining in the period, senior Robert Neuwirth (Zlin, Czech Republic) finished off a nice pass from freshman John-Michael DiGregorio (Montreal, Quebec) to put the Owls back on top, 2-1.

The Owls stifled a red-hot Skyhawks powerplay by killing five out of six penalties on the night, but the one Stonehill powerplay conversion from Brendan Nehmer proved costly for Westfield as it evened the game at two midway through the third period.

The two squads battled to a draw in the overtime frames, mostly due to stellar efforts in net from Owl goaltender Thierry Messervier (Montreal, Quebec) and Skyhawk netminder John Day who made quite the impression in his collegiate debut.

Messervier finished with 39 saves, while day answered with 31 of his own.

The tie moves the Owls to 5-3-4 on the year and they now prepare to jump into heavy conference play for the remainder of the regular season.

Westfield travels to MASCAC opponent Worcester State on Saturday night to avenge a 4-1 loss on home ice in the beginning of the year.