WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State University's Cory Lignelli (Glastonbury, Conn.) recorded his first collegiate shutout with 22 saves in the Lancers' 5-0 victory over the Stonehill College Skyhawks in a cross-divisional Thursday evening matchup at the Hart Recreation Center on the campus of the College of Holy Cross.
Worcester State started the scoring early when Mike Palmer (Grafton, Mass.) flew past two defenders and put a back-handed shot in just 2:31 into the first period. Late in the period a dump in by Stephen Zabrowski (Pocono Pines, Pa.) was deflected into the net by line mate Andy DeAngelis (Poughquag, N.Y.) for the second goal of the evening. The Lancers notched one more in before the end of the first when Evan Sterling (Great Falls, Va.) passed in the neutral zone to captain Alex DeWitz (Oronoco, Minn.) who came in with a mission down the left side, advancing the score to 3-0.
The second period was silent until 13:35 into the stanza when Alex Pommerville (Macedon, N.Y.) took a shot from the right circle and line mate Jeff Pierson (Longwood, Fla.) tipped the puck past Stonehill's netminder, Billy Palmer (Cranston, R.I.) for the 4-0 advantage.
The Lancers concluded the evening with a late power play goal from Kyle Griffin (Marlboro, Mass.) to finalize the score at 5-0.
The Skyhawks totaled 33 penalty minutes on 11 infractions, giving the Lancers a total of nine power play opportunities throughout the night.
The Skyhawks' Palmer suffered the loss as he had four goals against in 39:45 minutes played, stopping 12 shots. Stonehill's Kyle Paquette (Tewksbury, Mass.) came in for the final period and stopped seven of eight shots on net.
The Lancers (3-6-2) won't return to the ice until Jan. 5 as they take a break for the holiday season. The Skyhawks (3-6-2) wrap up 2016 play at home with a Dec. 10 game against Wesleyan, and then a Dec. 12 game versus Johnson & Wales before taking a break.