Special Teams Prowess Powers Owls to 6-4 Win Over Framingham

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State sophomore Julian Boisclair (Voorhees, N.J.) scored a pair of goals as the Owls special teams scored three power play goals and added a short-handed goal in a 6-4 victory over Framingham State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference bout from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass. on Thursday night.

After tying sixth-ranked Plymouth State in their last game, the Owls pick up their first victory in the conference, improving to 3-1-1 overall and 1-1-1 in the league. The Rams drop to 1-4 on the season and 1-3 in the MASCAC.

The Owls struck on a powerplay goal just 2:50 into the match with a point-to-point feed from Raphael Seguin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec) to Dawson Garcia (Oakville, Mass.) ending up on the stick of Ryan O'Halloran (Burlington, Mass.) who buried his second goal of the season to open the scoring.

Westfield doubled their lead by scoring a second goal 7:39 into the period as Boisclair picked up his first of the night on a loose puck in the crease off a shot from Nicolas Coppola (Glendale, Ari.).

The Rams chipped away at the Owls lead, connecting on a powerplay opportunity of their own with Cam Lindsay (Commerce, Mich.) scoring off a deflected shot from Jake Barcelou (Hyde Park, Mass.) to make it a 2-1 game just over the halfway point of the opening period.

Both teams traded goals in the final five minutes of the opening frame with Christopher Miraldo (Montreal, Quebec) picking the top-left corner of the net followed by Robert Bernier (Allen, Tex.) netting his first of the year, capping off a five-goal first period for both teams combined.

Framingham found the equalizer 7:07 into the middle period with Braeden Kennedy (South Boston, Mass.) firing an off-angled shot towards the net that snuck past Owls goaltender Kevin Chandler (Hanover, Mass.) to even the contest at three goals apiece.

The Owls special teams responded in an emphatic way, potting a powerplay goal and shorthanded attempt less than one minute apart. Cooper Board (Salem, Mass.) put the Owls ahead, then O'Halloran won a puck battle right at the defensive blue line, then skated and tossed a pass up the ice to Boisclair who lifted a shot past Rams goalkeeper Trevor Stenberg (Mendham, N.J.) as the Owls regained their two-goal advantage with 4:44 to play in the second period.

Framingham would not go away as Kennedy drew the Rams within one goal with his second tally of the night midway through the third period with Tyler Westfall (Annandale, Va.) serving as the primary facilitator.

Chandler and the Owls defense fought off a late powerplay opportunity for the Rams before Luca Marini (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) gave Westfield an insurance goal with 1:45 left in the game. Framingham pulled Stenberg from the cage, but only amounted one shot on net that was denied by Chandler.

The Rams held a heavy 48-29 shots advantage with Chandler racking up 44 saves for the Owls. Stenberg stopped 23 of 29 shots faced. Westfield was 3-5 on the man-advantage while the Rams scored once on four powerplay opportunities.

Westfield State will travel to MCLA for their next game on Saturday at 7:00 P.M. Framingham travels to Plymouth State on Saturday for a 6:00 P.M. puck drop.