Ice Hockey Falls at UMass Dartmouth

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. --  Junior Eric Bolden (Oswego, Ill.) netted a pair of goals and an assist for three points, as UMass Dartmouth tallied six times in the final period to notch a 9-1 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference ice hockey victory over Westfield State Saturday afternoon at Hetland Arena.

The host Corsairs (7-10-2, 6-5-1 MASCAC) jumped out to a 2-0 first period advantage on goals from Bolden and senior Steven Leonard (Rockaway Park, N.Y.), but the visiting Owls (9-5-5, 7-3-2 MASCAC) sliced that margin in half on senior F.X. Girard's (St. Lazare, Que.) power play marker 3:18 into the middle stanza.  Sophomore Melker Kroon (Malmo, Sweden) extended UMass Dartmouth's edge to 3-1 with his first collegiate tally midway through the second period, and the hosts erupted for six goals in a seven minute span of the third frame to break open the contest.  Kroon started the surge after collecting his second score of the day 4:48 into the stanza, and the Corsairs also received goals off the sticks of Bolden, junior Dillon Radin (Long Beach, N.Y.), sophomores Jimmy Pelton (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Derek Britner (Salem, N.H.) along with freshman Michael Perrone (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) to account for the final margin.

Leonard and Radin each added an assist to finish with two points on the day for UMass Dartmouth, which received three assists from freshman John Grealish (Bakersfield, Calif.) along with a pair of helpers each off the sticks of junior Kai Kapossy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and freshman Austin Miller (Meridian, Idaho).  Seniors Cameron Mack (Long Beach, Calif.) and David Skarbek (Hyannis, Mass.) joined with freshman Clay Ellerbrock (Tega Cay, S.C.) in registering assists for the Corsairs, as sophomore Chris Stangarone (White Plains, N.Y.) stopped 25 of 26 shots to pick up his sixth win of the season in goal for the hosts.

Senior Thierry Messervier (Montreal, Que.) made 29 saves in 49-plus minutes of play in the setback for Westfield State, which received a combined seven stops from the tandem of sophomore Tyler Shugrue (Point Roberts, Wash.) and senior Kam Limburg (Howell, Mich.).  UMass Dartmouth outshot the Owls by a 45-26 margin and held a 45-42 advantage at the face off dot for the contest, as the Corsairs are unbeaten in two outings against the visitors this winter.

UMass Dartmouth travels to Framingham, Mass. on Thursday evening for a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference outing with Framingham State that faces off at 7:30 pm, while Westfield State hosts Worcester State in a MASCAC matchup on Thursday evening in Westfield, Mass. that faces off at 7:35 pm.

Story Courtesy of Jm Seavey, UMD Sports Information