Hookesett, NH --- Freshman RJ Byrne (Marlboro, MA) tallied the lone goal for Worcester State in a 1-1 draw with UMass Boston, but the Lancers were defeated in a 2-1 shootout to advance to the PAL Cup championship game on Friday evening.
With the draw the Blue and Gold move to 1-3-2 overall and will play Southern New Hampshire in the consolation match Saturday at 1:30 PM. The Beacons (2-4-1) take on the University of New England for the championship at 3:30.
Down 1-0 entering the third period, Byrne helped WSU in a big way when he recorded his first career goal 5:47 into the period on an assist from sophomore Smbat Defterderian (Artela, CA).
UMass Boston opened the contests scoring at the 6:20 mark in the first on a power play goal senior Bryan Albert (Redlands, CA) as he recieved some help from junior Mike DeGarzia (Novi, MI) and Rob Florentino (W. Roxbury, MA).
In the second frame, Worcester State would hold off a pair of UMB power plays as they would kill three overall in the contest. UMB would enjoy a 20-4 advantage in shots in the first two periods of play.
The Lancers, who had an 9-3 lead in shots in the third period, had their chance to score the go-ahead marker in the stanza when the Beacons committed three penalties in the final 15 minutes, but the special teams for the UMass Boston prevailed.
In a thrilling shootout that went five rounds, UMB edged Worcester State, by a 2-1 score.
Senior Bryan Kalczynski (Tonawanda, NY) stopped 26 shots for the Blue and Gold while Beacon's freshman Alex Scola (Exeter, NH) collected 15 saves.