Auburn, MA --- Junior Nick Asterito (Philadelphia, PA) notched three points for two assists and a goal while freshman Derek Serbon (Crown Point, IN) netted his first collegiate marker for the eventual game-winner in the third period to help propel Worcester State to a 4-3 triumph over Stonehill this evening in non conference ice hockey action at Horgan Rink.
With the win the Lancers, who are unbeaten in their last three games (2-0-1), improve their record to 2-1-3 while the Skyhawks slip to 2-7 on the season.
Worcester State got on the board late in the opening period as senior Chris Wallin (Avon, CT) sent in his third tally of the season on assists from sophomore Tim D'Orazio (Jamison, PA) and Asterito as WSU scored at 15:47 on a power play.
Stonehill soon evened the score and took the 2-1 lead midway through the second period. Freshman Garrett Lessard (E. Sanwhich, MA) recorded his first career goal at 8:13 and then senior Angelo Todesca (Westwood, MA) lit up the siren on his team-leading sixth marker of the year at 13:34.
The Lancers though would retake the lead at the end of the middle frame with a pair of goals to finish off the period. Asterito registered a power-play tally at 16:46 with the extra man advantage and then freshman Brendan Galley (Colorado Springs, CO) tacked on the go-ahead goal with 1:16 remaining in the stanza.
That set the stage for Serbon who put Worcester State up 4-2 at 8:46 in the third. Serbon took a nice feed from behind the net with some help from Wallin and Asterito for what turned out to be the match-clinching goal.
Stonehill wouldn't go away as they sliced the deficit to one goal on a goal by Todesca with 10:30 on the clock. The Skyhawks also had a Lancer penalty and pulled their netminder in the contests final 15 seconds, but the hosts did a good job of killing the power play and playing with the extra man on the ice to earn the win.
Sophomore Mark Evans (Ludlow, MA) stopped 26 shots in his first triumph wearing a Blue and Gold uniform while junior Tyler Jackson (Little Silver, NJ) collected 24 saves in the setback.
The visitors held a slight 29-28 edge in shots. The Skyhawks were 0-for-2 with the extra man advantage while the two squads were whistled for a total of five penalties.
Worcester State will travel to UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday for a 7:30 matchup as the Corsairs are currently unblemished in MASCAC play at 2-0-1. Stonehill makes the trek up to Plymouth State as the two squads will face off at 7 o'clock.