Board Collects Two Points, Owls Fend Off Rams, 3-2

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior forward Cooper Board (Glen Elly, Ill.) recorded a goal and an assist as the Owls held off a late comeback effort from Framingham State in a 3-2 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference victory from Amelia Park Arena on Saturday night.

The Owls leapfrogged two conference opponents in the MASCAC standings after the win, moving up to fifth in the standings with 21 points and a 7-7 league mark. The Rams drop to 0-11-1 in the MASCAC and 1-16-2 on the season.

Westfield got out to a two-goal advantage after the first period with goals from Emile Tremblay (Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec) and Board while also getting 13 saves from Aiden Winslow (Jacksonville, Fla.) in the opening 20 minutes of action.

Tremblay got the scoring started, winning an attacking zone draw to Louis Ouellet (Baie-Comeau, Quebec) who skated behind the net before passing the puck to Christopher Miraldo (Montreal, Quebec) whose one-timer was saved by Rams goalie Owen Swanbon (Maynard, Mass.). The rebound deflected to Tremblay who was waiting on the doorstep of the crease where he would score his sixth goal of the year to make it a 1-0 Owls lead with 11:37 left in the period.

The Owls doubled their lead before heading into the intermission after a point shot from Raphael Seguin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec) was tipped in front by Board and into the back of the net with 4:38 to go in the period.

Framingham got on the board midway through the second period. Luke Yubeta (Chandler, Ariz.) skated down the boards and into the Owls zone, firing a shot on net that was saved by Winslow, causing a rebound where a crashing Kaleb Kinskey (Dike, Iowa) backhanded home the goal with 12:31 remaining in the second.

Westfield answered later in the period as Julian Boisclair (Voorhees, N.J.) ripped home a shot from the high slot on a feed from Emile Pichette (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) to regain a two-goal advantage.

The Rams turned up the offensive pressure in the third period trailing by two goals, finding the back of the net with 12:21 left in the third period after Ashton Collazo (Victor, N.Y.) fired in a high shot past Winslow. Westfield nearly scored twice in the period after the Collazo goal as both Pichette and Board hit the post within minutes of one another as the game remained a one-goal Owls lead with under nine to go in regulation.

There were only two penalties called in the entire game, both on the Owls with the second penalty coming with 4:23 left in the game, sending the Westfield penalty kill to work. The Owls did a nice job keeping the puck out of high danger spots in the zone, allowing only one shot on goal which was saved by Winslow, giving Westfield a pair of penalty kills on the evening.

Framingham was forced to pull Swanbon from the net with 1:06 to play in search of an equalizer, but the Owls again stood tall in their defensive end, limiting the Rams to just two shots, one of which found Winslow who made the save.

The Rams held a slight 34-30 edge over the Owls in the game with Winslow (W, 6-8) stopping 32 shots on goal. Swanbon made 27 saves for Framingham.

Westfield State (11-10) will close the regular season with three of four games at home, starting on Thursday with the Owls hosting Rivier University in a MASCAC game at 7:35 P.M. from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass. Framingham State will travel to Worcester State for a MASCAC game on Tuesday at 6:30 P.M.