WORCESTER, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth Corsairs debuted their first game of the 2015-16 season against the Worcester State University Lancers in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play Thursday evening at the Hart Recreational Center on the campus of Holy Cross with the end result being a 1-1 tie. The Lancers record moves to 1-1-1 (0-0-1 MASCAC), while the Corsairs begin their season with a 0-0-1 (0-0-1 MASCAC) record.
The first period of the game was full of penalties, but did not result in any goals scored by either team. Worcester State tallied up seven minutes in the penalty box, while UMass Dartmouth totaled six. The Lancers' senior forward, Nicholas Drill (Madison, W.I.) was called on a five minute major for boarding, which led to about three minutes of power play for the Corsairs. It was a huge boost for the Lancers moving forward, as they were able to kill of those minutes and not allow any goals scored.
In the 13th minute in the second period, the Corsairs ramped up their energy and senior forward John Sartell (Wakefield, Mass.) scored a goal on a backhand from the slot. The puck got underneath the goalie's glove hand and trickled in to take the 1-0 lead. Freshman defenseman, Mason Nichols (Oviedo, Fla.) and sophomore forward, Brandon Berkley (Scottsdale, Ariz.) assisted on the play.
The Lancers came back fighting in the third period and were able to notch the game at one on a goal from freshman forward John Skarlis (Waterloo, Iowa). The puck was fired into the goal by Skarlis after a mishandling of the puck. Worcester State's freshman forward Mitchell Purdie (Cavan, Ont.) assisted on the shot.
Tied at one at the end of regulation, the game was taken into one five minute overtime period where the Lancers were able to fight for four shots, while the Corsairs took one. Neither team was able to land the puck in the net for the win, which resulted in the 1-1 tie on the night.
Worcester State had the shot advantage over the Corsairs 37-28. In goal, sophomore Drew Michals (Newton, Mass.) recorded 36 saves in the total 65 minutes of play. Freshman Max Kirkwood (Brunswick, Ohio) registered 27 saves on the night for the Lancers.
Senior forward Mike Restuccia (Malden, Mass.) had the game-high faceoff wins with 15, while Worcester State's junior forward, Alex DeWitz (Oronoco, Minn.) was one behind Restuccia with 14.
The Lancers will be back in action at the Hart Center on Thursday (Nov. 5) as they will match up against non-conference opponent, Western New England at 8:45 p.m. The Corsairs will feature their home opener on Saturday (Nov. 7) against UMass Boston at 4 p.m.