Anna Maria Rallies Past Owls

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior forward Brett Williams (Easton, Mass.) staked the Owls with a two-goal lead midway through the first period, but Anna Maria tallied four unanswered goals to pull away in a 7-3 MASCAC game from Paxton, Mass. on Thursday night.

The Owls suffer their first loss in conference play, dropping to 3-1 in the MASCAC and 5-4 overall. The AMCATS remain unbeaten in league play, improving to 4-0 in the conference and 6-2 overall.

Westfield potted their first shot on goal of the game for an early 1-0 lead. Williams freed the puck along the end boards which was taken by Cannon Bonifay (Fort Worth, Texas) who circled around the back of the net to find Julian Boisclair (Voorhees, N.J.) who ripped a short side shot into the goal.

The Owls found a second goal with about seven minutes remaining in the first period, with Emile Tremblay (Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec) winning a board battle and flipping the puck to Daniel Finegan (Chicago, Ill.) who fired a wrist shot towards the net which was tipped home by Williams for a 2-0 advantage.

In the final 2:10 of the opening frame, Anna Maria was able to even the score with Dylan McElhinny and Kenny Kalman scoring 1:16 apart to make it a 2-2 game heading into the intermission.

The AMCATS controlled the middle period, outshooting the Owls 15-5 while taking the lead for the first time in the game. Liam Wells put Anna Maria in front at the halfway point then in the closing minutes of the period, Patrick Crooks doubled the advantage with Westfield trailing 4-2 after two.

Cooper Board (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) gave the visitors life with 10:20 remaining in regulation, crashing towards the net to gain possession on a blocked shot from Raphael Seguin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec) where he would tap in his second marker of the year to trim the deficit to one goal.

Special teams played a vital role in the remainder of the contest with the AMCATS quickly regaining their two-goal lead on a power play goal from Christopher Friberg with 7:55 left. Just over a minute later, the Owls were granted a power play chance of their own but were only able to muster two shots wide of the net.

A second interference infraction against Westfield set up another man-advantage goal for Anna Maria, putting the game out of reach with under four left in the contest.

The AMCATS held a 42-29 shots advantage in the game with Aiden Winslow (Jacksonville, Fla.) making 25 saves. Matthew Hennessey stopped 26 shots on net for Anna Maria.

Westfield State remains on the road for their next game, a conference matchup against Rivier on Saturday night at 7:00 P.M.