Auburn, MA --- Junior John Cahalane (Tewksbury, MA) netted his second hat-trick of the season to become the 55th member of the 50 point club while classmate Nick Asterito (Philadelphia, PA) added two goals and an assist as they both helped lead Worcester State to a 6-3 non conference victory over Western New England College this evening at Horgan Rink.
With the win the Lancers up their record to 7-3-3 while WNEC slips to 4-10-1.
Freshman Brian Prost (Parma, OH) snapped a scoreless gridlock late in the opening frame to put the Golden Bears up 1-0 with 13:57 off the clock in the first as junior Mike Kaselouskas (E. Longmeadow, MA) and first-year John Kelly (Long Island, NY) each contributed on the play.
The Lancers would then erupt and score three goals in a span of 5½ minutes to open up the second period. Sophomore Tim D'Orazio (Jamieson, PA) started the outburst 1:01 into the contest before Asterito tacked on a power-play goal at 2:50. Cahalane capped off the barrage with another tally with the extra-man edge at 5:23.
Kelly notched a marker for WNEC to make the score 3-2 at the 14:13 mark, but Cahalane scored with 1:11 left in the period to put the hosts up by two goals as the Blue and Gold took advantage of another power play.
Cahalane started off the third stanza at 1:33 with his team-leading 11th marker of the year with one less defender off the ice to turn the trick. Asterito then put the Lancers up 6-2 at the 6:16 mark with a short-handed tally on the second assist by first-year Derek Serbon (Crown Point, IN).
Kelly would complete the games scoring for the visitors with his fifth goal of the season as Kaselouskas and Prost each recorded dishes.
WSU junior Bryan Kalczynski (Tonawanda, NY) turned aside 23 shots while freshman Eric Sorenson (Rochester, NY) collected 53 saves in the setback for WNEC.
The Lancers were 4-for-6 on power plays and enjoyed a 59-26 edge in shots. WNEC was 0-for-4 with the extra man advantage. With two assists tonight, Serbon is tied for the MASCAC overall lead in first-year scoring with 12 points (5 goals – 7 assists).
Freshman Brendan Galley (Colorado Springs, CO) and sophomore Tim Bowman (Moorpark, CA) both contributed two helpers apiece which included Cahalane's game-winning goal to end the second frame.
Both squads return to their respective conference schedules with evening games on Thursday. Worcester State continues its home stand with a 5:30 game against Framingham State while Western New England travels to Suffolk for a 6 PM contest.