Boisclair Buries Late Goal to Lift Owls Past Trailblazers, 2-1

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior forward Julian Boisclair (Voorhees, N.J.) scored the game-winning goal with seven minutes remaining in regulation for Westfield State which defeated Mass. College of Liberal Arts 2-1 in a MASCAC game from Amelia Park Arena on Saturday night.

The Owls remain unbeaten in conference play, improving to 3-0 in the MASCAC while advancing to 4-3 overall. The Trailblazers drop to 1-4-2 on the season and 0-2-1 in league play.

With the game even at one goal apiece in the back half of the third period, Boisclair connected for his second goal of the season to put the Owls in front. Raphael Seguin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec) kept the puck in the offensive zone, tapping a pass to Cannon Bonifay (Fort Worth, Texas) who wristed a shot into the goalie crease which was tipped home on the doorstep by Boisclair for a 2-1 advantage.

Westfield carried that one-goal lead into the closing minutes of regulation where an Owls icing call set up an offensive zone draw for the Trailblazers with 1:46 left. After an MCLA timeout, the team pulled Rocco Stolz (Denver, Colo.) from the net for the extra skater. With 1:17 to play, an Owls high sticking penalty behind the net gave the Trailblazers a six-on-four advantage.

Owls goalie Aiden Winslow (Jacksonville, Fla.) was up to the task, making two saves while a third shot attempt was blocked by Seguin in the final seconds, sending the puck down the ice to kill the rest of the clock and seal an Owls victory.

After a scoreless first period, the Owls were able to get on the board first in the second period with Brett Williams (Easton, Mass.) gaining possession of the puck then whirling a pass from the left face-off dot towards the front of the goal mouth where Jackson Gruber (Toronto, Ontario) was able to square up to the puck and one-time a shot into the net with 14:45 left in the second.

For Gruber, the marker was the first goal of his collegiate career, coming in just his fourth game played.

Despite holding a sizeable shots advantage, the Owls could not find a goal to double their lead in part to the play of Stolz in net for MCLA. With 6:20 left in the second period, Colin Roe (Boston, Mass.) had a shorthanded breakaway opportunity with his attempt swallowed up by the glove by Stolz.

With 18 minutes to go, the Owls nearly found the back of the net with on the power play with Jesper Seeberg (Lake Worth, Fla.) redirecting a shot in the bumper position that was saved by Stolz, moving post to post to keep the puck out of the goal.

MCLA found the equalizer with about 11 minutes to play in the third. After committing a penalty, Sean Schifferl (Fort Myers, Fla.) was released from the box, skating directly to the front of the Owls goal where he would pot his third of the season on a feed from Luc Fricchione (West Springfield, Mass.) to even the score.

Westfield started the game with superb defense and complimentary offense, holding the Trailblazers without a shot on goal until the 3:15 mark of the first period. For the game, the Owls held a 40-14 shots advantage with Stolz delivering an exceptional effort in goal for the Trailblazers, making 38 saves. Winslow made 13 saves for Westfield to grab his fourth win of the season. Winslow has started every game for the Owls so far this season.

Westfield State will next face-off against Southern New Hampshire University in the "Hockey Fights Hunger" college hockey night from O'Brien Rink in Woburn, Mass. on Tuesday with puck drop at 5:45 P.M. Tickets for the game are $5 and those attending are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item benefitting St. Vincent de Paul and the Woburn Council for Social Concern.