MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Preview
Worcester, MA --- Assumption Taylor Larson (Blackstone, MA) tallied two goals and an assist and classmate Kevin Glanzman (Massapequa, NY) dished out three helpers to help the Grayhounds earn a 5-2 triumph over cross-town rival Worcester State in non-conference action this evening at Buffone Rink.
With the win Assumption moves to 13-10-1 while the Lancers slip to 8-14-3 in the regular season finale for both squads. The #5 Lancers will take on fourth-seeded Fitchburg State in the quarterfinal round of the MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament on Saturday at 4 PM.
The Greyhounds got on the board with three markers in the opening frame. Larson notched the first at 8:51, sophomore Nick Mattiello (Johnson, RI) added the second a little less than two minutes later and second-year Mike Heyde (Natick, MA) capped off the period with the eventual game-winner with 1:09 remaining.
After a scoreless second period that saw Worcester State kill a trio of penalties, Assumption put the game away with two goals with the extra man advantage by sophomore Kyle Zobler (Millbury, MA) and Larson over the first 11 minutes of the period.
The Lancers broke the shutout with markers by junior Eric Rutz (Mechanicsburg, PA) with 13:27 left and by freshman RJ St. John (Barre, VT) at the 17:04 mark. The goal for St. John was his first collegiate tally.
Assumption senior Nick Blanchette (Stuart, FL) collected 30 saves in 40 scoreless minutes before yielded to classmate Steve DiDomenico (Lowel, MA) who finished with 14 saves in the final period.
Sophomore Taylor Fant (Boise, ID), junior Mark Evans (Ludlow, MA) and third-year Tim Ford (Worcester, MA/St. John's) all split time between the pipes and combined for 43 stops in the setback.
Assumption held the slight edge in shots (48-46) while also finishing three-for-nine with the extra man advantage. WSU was one-for-three with Rutz's marker coming off the power play.
On Saturday, the Greyhounds entertain Stonehill in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Tournament at 5:30 PM at Buffone. Hyde and Zolber also finished with three points apiece for Assumption.