Valtonen Stands Tall in Goal As Owls Blank Salem, 2-0

WESTFIELD, Mass. –     Westfield State sophomore goaltender Valtteri Valtonen made 43 saves to post the shutout and graduate student transfer Chuck Costello (Philadelphia, Pa.) tallied a pair of assists to power Westfield State to a 2-0 win over Salem State in a MASCAC men's ice hockey game at Amelia Park Arena on Thursday evening.

Westfield improves to 2-3-1 and 1-1-1 in the MASCAC, while Salem is now 1-3 and 1-2 in the league.

The game was scoreless through two periods with Valtonen being matched save for save by Vikings netminder Juno Sata-Hunsala (Turku, Finland).

Westfield finally got on the board when Tom Skold (Jarna, Sweden) fired a shot from the blueline off a feed from Costello 7:11 into the third period.

Costello added an assist on the Owls insurance goal as he took the puck up the left side boards and fired a pass across to Jason Diamond (Lakeville, Conn.) crashing the net on the right side, lifting a shot to beat Sata-Hunsala and give the Owls a 2-0 lead with 8:51 left in the game.  Costello and Diamond are both tranfers from Becker College who came to the Owls after Becker closed last summer.

Salem continued to pepper Valtonen throughout the final period, and pulled Hunsala with 1:34 left in the period but couldn't get on the scoreboard.   Eric Larsson (Lake Tahoe, Calif.) and Richard Coyle (Weymouth, Mass.) were most active in the offensive end for the Vikings with six and five shots respectively.

Hunsala finished with 35 saves for the Vikings.

Valtonen, a sophomore from Helsinki, Finland, picks up his first collegiate win and first collegiate shutout.

Westfield State will next host Framingham State on Saturday in a 5:35 p.m. start at Amelia Park.  Fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable item to support the Common Goods food pantry at Westfield State as part of the now annual Team Up to Fight Hunger game.