Auburn, MA --- Sophomore Ryan McDonald (Anchorage, AK) had a hand in all three Framingham State markers as the Rams and Worcester State drew in overtime, 3-3, this evening in MASCAC men's ice hockey action at Horgan Memorial Rink.
With the tie the Lancers move to 6-14-3 overall (3-11-3 MASCAC) while Framingham State up is now at 2-18-3 and 0-14-3 in league play.
Tonight's contest was a make-up game that was supposed to be played on February 9, but was postponed due to winter storm Nemo.
The Rams went up 1-0 at the 7:36 mark of the first period when junior Daniel Miressi (Monroe, CT) potted his 15th goal of the campaign with the extra man advantage and help from McDonald.
Worcester State killed a power play midway through the frame and received some good fortune when Framingham State's defense misplayed the puck back to the goalie as the puck trickled past FSU's net-minder for the 1-1 score with 2:51 remaining in the stanza.
Freshman Mike Leskun (Geneva, IL) was credited with his fifth goal of the season on the unassisted tally.
On the back of stellar play between the pipes by first-year goalie Salvatore Tecci (Franklin, MA), the Lancers scored two times in the second period for the 3-1 edge.
With 5:26 on the clock, senior Tim Bowman (Moorpark, CA) sent a long pass from the blue line to freshman Cody Brier (Marlboro, MA) to sophomore RJ Byrne (Marlboro, MA) for his second goal of the year on a power play.
Less than 10 minutes later, junior Ryan Quirk (Brockton, MA) created a turnover in the neutral zone, dribbled down the ice and passed it to classmate Derek Serbon (Crown Point, IN) for the short-handed marker.
In the final 9:21 of the middle frame, the Lancers back line did a tremendous job of killing a major penalty and a minor call with less than three minutes to go in the period.
But Framingham State came right back and equalized the score 3-3 to force the extra session.
FSU sophomore Dylan Cosford (Windsor, Ontario) wristed a pass to McDonald at the point for the first marker at 3:47 before McDonald came across the ice and scooped in the game-tying goal with 10:42 off the clock in the third.
On McDonald's team-leading 17th goal of the season, Miressi and second-year Brendan McCarron (Millbury, MA/St. John's) both were credited with assists on the play.
After Framingham State outshot their opponents 39-26 over the first three frames, the visitors withstood a furious outburst that saw the Lancers hold an 8-4 margin on attempts on the net.
Serbon had two great chances and nearly ended it on a breakaway near the 2:00 mark, but Ram junior goalie Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, CA) caught a piece of the puck and turned it aside with a tremendous glove save.
Tecci was sensational for Worcester State as he finished with 40 saves while Cafrelli collected 31 for Framingham State.
The Rams, who finished with the 43-34 margin in shots, were 2-for-6 with the extra-man advantage and the Lancers only converted one of their five power play attempts.
With his marker tonight, Leskun is now tied for eighth in league scoring among first-year players with his 13th point (5 goals – 8 assists) while Serbon is seven points away from 50 for his career.
Worcester State closes out their regular season tomorrow with a home match-up against Salem State at 5:30 on "Senior Night." Framingham State closes out their campaign with by entertaining UMass Dartmouth on the road tomorrow at 7:20.