WORCESTER, Mass. - The Worcester State ice hockey team scored four unanswered goals on Tuesday evening to defeat Saint Anselm College 5-1 in non-conference action at the Worcester Ice Center.
With the win, the Lancers improve to 4-2-0 overall this season, while Saint Anselm drops to 3-3-0.
Senior Mike Moran (Milford, Mass.) opened the scoring for the Lancers when he potted his fourth goal of season with 2:16 remaining in the first. Walking off the right wing boards, Moran through a shot towards the net from the top of the circle that found its way under the arm of the Hawk goalkeeper for the game's first goal. Senior Mitch Purdie (Peterborough, Ont.) was credited with an assist on the opening tally.
Saint Anselm evened the score early in the second period, as Kevin Ouellette (Arlington, Mass.) netted his second goal of the season on a shot that eluded Aaron Callan's (South Lyon, Mich.) glove hand. Senior Kevin Curley (Avon, Mass.) earned an assist on the equalizer.
The first collegiate goal for defenseman Steven Tettoni (Gloucester, Mass.) put the Lancers back in front with just over seven minutes left until the second intermission. The freshman took a drop pass from Colin Whitt (Southlake, Texas) in the high slot and wired it past the glove of Saint Anselm's Colin Soucy (North Andover, Mass.) to put Worcester State ahead 2-1.
Just 57 seconds later, the Lancers would double their lead on Will Ahearn's (Charlestown, Mass.) third goal of the season. Off a faceoff to Soucy's right, Ahearn scooped the puck out of the skates of Nick Patullo (Doylestown, Mass.), walked in on Soucy, deked, and tucked the puck into a yawning cage to put the Lancers ahead by a score of 3-1 with 6:05 left in the second.
Almost six and a half minutes into the third, Matthew Manning (Novi, Mich.) completed a beautiful 2-on-1 with Purdie with his third goal of the season. Manning was left with just a tap-in as Purdie found him on the far post for the goal.
Sophomore CJ Buckingham (Pembroke, Mass.) added an insurance marker on the power play with 1:32 remaining in the contest to secure the victory.
Callan finished the night with 25 saves to earn his third consecutive win between the pipes. Soucy took the loss with a 24 save effort.
Callan was the game's number one star, with Purdie's two-assist effort earning him the second star, and Ahearn's goal earning him the third star.
Next up for the Lancers, they will return to MASCAC play with a Saturday evening tilt against Westfield State. Saint Anselm travels to Post for a pair of games over the weekend, starting on Friday evening.
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