WORCESTER, Mass-  The Westfield State University Owls (10-7-0, 5-5) defeated the Worcester State Lancers (4-11-1, 1-8-1) 4-2 in a hard fought matchup at the Hart Center Thursday evening, as Jackson Leef (Fort Wayne, Ind.) led the Owls with a goal and an assist to tally a multi-point game.

At 4:22 of the first period Westfield opened up the scoring after an unfortunate bounce for the Worcester State defense. Nick Passero (Fort Erie, Ont.) dumped the puck into the offensive zone and attempted to wrap the puck around the glass, though, the puck took a strange bounce and came straight out in front of an open goal. Worcester State's goalkeeper, Max Kirkwood (Brunswick, OH) was out of the crease at that time, and attempted to play the puck which left the goal wide open for Mason Wade (Bellingham, Wash.) to give the owls a 1-0 lead.

The rest of the first period remained scoreless but the second period became a goal clinic.  A little over five minutes into the second, Westfield would take advantage of the power play. While on the man-advantage, Leef would put the Owls up 2-0 and started to take control of puck possession.

While the Owls seemed to be controlling the game, Worcester got on the board a little over a minute later. Marcus Mazur (Beverly Hills, Mich.) received a tape-to-tape pass just before the offensive blue line and beat the defensemen on a breakaway. While being one-on-one with the goalie, Mazur showed off with a forehand-backhand fake and slipped the puck through the sliding Jonathan Loparco's (Vaughan, Ont.) five-hole to bring Worcester within one goal.

Less than 30 seconds later Westfield took back the momentum when Wyatt Trumbley (Campbell River B.C.) received a puck just above the left faceoff dot, and fired a quick shot on goal. The puck had eyes and made way through a screen to beat Kirkwood and take another two goal advantage.

The scoring for the second period was not finished as the Lancers would not go away. Joe White (Wonder Lake, Ill.) was in the offensive corner and won the puck battle along the boards. White picked his head up and found a trailing Nicholas Drill (Madison, WI) all alone in front of the goal where Drill tapped the one-timer past the sprawling Loparco to once again bring the Lancers within one goal.

With 2:07 remaining in regulation the owls held a 3-2 lead, and Worcester was forced to pull their goalie for the extra attacker. With the open goal, Westfield succeeded with another score from Dalton Jay (Hamilton, Ont.) with just three seconds remaining on the clock. This goal sealed the 4-2 victory for the Owls.

Westfield State had a 36-30 shot advantage over the Lancers, and went 1-for-4 (.250) in power play, while Worcester State was not able to benefit from their five power play opportunities.

Junior netminder, Loparco, was granted the win for the Owls, as he registered 28 saves in the full 60 minutes played. With 32 saves, Kirkwood took the loss for the Lancers in his 57:43 minutes played.

The Owls of Westfield continue play this weekend, as they will travel to Framingham State Saturday (Jan. 23) for a 2:40 p.m. game. The Lancers don't return to the ice until Thursday (Jan. 28) where they will match up against Plymouth State on the road.

Release written by Connor Haynes, Sports Information Intern