Auburn, MA --- UMass Dartmouth senior Phil Bronner (Wilbraham, MA) and junior Greg Girtatos (Tyngsboro, MA) netted two goals apiece as the Corsairs were able to hang on for the 5-4 victory over Worcester State in MASCAC men's ice hockey action this evening at Horgan Memorial Rink.
UMass Dartmouth (6-4-2, 5-1-1 MASCAC) opened the scoring when Girtatos found the back of the net at the 13:15 mark of the opening frame off assists by sophomore Shaun Walters (Plymouth, MI) and senior Dan Dempsey (Norwell, MA).
But the Lancers (4-9, 1-6 MASCAC) wasted little time to provide the equalizer, taking advantage of the power-play, second-year Brenton Dyok (Rocklin, CA) put the puck between the net 1:20 later with helpers by classmate Stephen Rock (Tulsa, OK) and freshman Cody Brier (Marlboro, MA).
Dyok was then able to tilt the score in favor of the Blue and Gold heading into the first intermission when he netted his second goal of the contest with just over 2:30 minutes remaining in the period.
UMass Dartmouth jumped back on top to start off the second stanza as they struck for two goals midway through the frame.
Girtatos tied the game up with his power play blast off a great feed from Dempsey and Bronner connected on his first goal of the contest.
35 ticks later, Bonner netted his first marker of the game when he was aided by senior classmates Dave McDonald (Wakefield, MA) and Nick Marquis (Londonderry, NH) for the 3-2 advantage at the 9:45 mark.
Sophomore Dmitry Antipin (Novosibirsk, Russia) gave the Corsairs a two-goal advantage heading into the final period of play as he collected his third goal of the campaign with just under five minutes remaining in the second frame.
Bronner struck again in the early moments of the third when he was assisted by senior Matt Correia (Acushnet, MA) and Marquis giving Dartmouth what seemed to be a comfortable 5-2 advantage with 17:33 remaining in the contest.
However, Worcester State mounted a comeback as freshman Mike Leskun (Geneva, IL) ignited the Lancers with his unassisted tally at the 5:07 mark.
WSU then once again used the power play to their advantage to make it a one goal game as sophomore Cody Osburn (Sacramento, CA) found the back of the net with help from second-year Nathan Stanley (Meridian, ID) with just less than ten minutes left in regulation.
With just over three minutes left to play Leskun along with fellow first-year Conor Matsen (LaGrange, KY) each had multiple opportunities from point blank range, but were turned away by UMD senior goalkeeper Ryan Williams (Milton, ON) who stayed strong preserving the lead and final score.
Williams stopped 27 of the 31 shots he faced as his counterpart freshman Drew Case (Plano, TX) turned aside 32 of the 37 shots he saw on the evening.
Both teams capitalized with a man off the ice as Worcester State was 2-for-5 and UMass Dartmouth was 1-for-3 for the game. Dempsey also ended the contest with two dishes for the visitors.
WSU will head to Westfield State for a 5:30 PM match-up on Saturday evening and the Corsairs will return home to take on Salve Regina Saturday at 4:30 PM.
Release Written By John Hanna – Sports Information Graduate Assistant