Auburn, MA --- Freshman teammates Brendan Galley (Colorado Springs, CO) and Derek Serbon (Crown Point, IN) each recorded a pair of goals to help lead Worcester State to a 5-4 triumph over Salem State in MASCAC Ice Hockey action this evening.
With the win the Lancers improve their record to 5-2-3 and 4-1-1 in the conference while the Vikings fall to 6-3 and 4-2 in league play.
Worcester State jumped out to a 4-0 advantage seven minutes into the contest. Galley netted the first goal 19 ticks into the game before Serbon notched his two markers less than two minutes apart at 4:28 and 6:04, with the second tally coming with the power play. Junior Nick Asterito (Philadelphia, PA) then registered his 51st career point to cap off the scoring as Serbon and sophomore Paul Conceison (Burlington, MA) each helped out on the assist.
The second period would prove to be a physical one as the Vikings were slapped with two major penalties, but the visitors killed both of them to keep the score at 4-0 after 40 minutes of play.
In the third, freshman Kyle Phelan (Barnstable, MA) proved to be the spark Salem State needed to get back into the contest. Phelan would scoop in his first career marker at 6:36 before he and second-year Casey Terreri (Warwick, RI) would dish out an assist on junior Giancarlo Capadanno's (Mountainside, NJ) eighth goal of the year at 11:26 with the extra man advantage.
30 seconds later, the Vikings threatened the lead when they trimmed the deficit to 4-3 as Capadanno and sophomore Nick Lampson (Groton, MA) returned the favor to help out Phelan for his second goal of the game at 12:05.
But Galley came through for the Lancers in the clutch as he scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal at 14:18 on an assist from third-year John Cahalane (Tewksbury, MA).
Salem State would make the score 5-4 with 35 seconds left in the game on sophomore Casey Terreri's (Warwick, RI) sixth goal of the season as Salem State skated with six men on the ice, but the visitors would not score again as the Blue and Gold would earn the semester-ending triumph.
WSU junior Bryan Kalczynski (Tonawanda, NY) improved his record to 4-1-2 on the season as he collected 39 shots in the victory. First-year keeper Ryan Sutliffe (Grand Forks, ND) played a solid 52:03 minutes of action in relief of senior James LaCour (Silver Spring, MD) as he allowed only one goal in the defeat. Sutliffe stopped 26 of the 27 shots he saw on net.
Salem State outshot the Lancers 43-36 – 15-8 in the final frame – while the two squads were whistled for 27 combined penalties. With a goal and assist tonight, Asterito became the 54th player in program history to reach the 50-point milestone.
The contest for both teams is the final game that both will play this semester. Worcester State will return to action on January 6 when they travel to Becker for a 12:50 contest while the Vikings close out 2010 with a home date against Babson on December 31 at 3 PM.