Worcester, MA- It had been almost a month since the Worcester State Men's hockey team took the ice due to the holiday break, and longer so since they were on their home ice at the Fidelity Bank Arena, with their last game being in front of an excited crowd at the DCU Center. It was a further two months since they last faced off against tonight's opponents, the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs. Back in November, the Lancers were able to take down the Corsairs on the road. Tonight, they looked to win their second straight against the conference foes. 

Sophomore Shane Prifrel (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) led the Lancers with a monster night. It took him less than 22 minutes of gameplay to complete a hat trick, and was able to tack on a pair of assists later in the night bringing his game point total up to five. Senior Petr Staif's (Pilsen, Czech Republic) first period score along with senior Max Roth's (Chicago, Ill.) goal in the following frame had Worcester State up 5-0 with 11 minutes to go in the second period. Thanks in no small part to a string of Corsair penalties, the Lancers had complete control of the game throughout the first 30 minutes of gameplay. 

However, UMass-Dartmouth would come storming back to make things interesting. A quick score with about six minutes to go in the second, followed by a pair of third period goals that came less than 90 seconds apart pulled the Corsairs within striking distance. Down 5-3, UMass-Dartmouth would pull their goalie with over three minutes remaining, and despite a handful of legitimate looks, were unable to push anything past sophomore Jakub Kubik (Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic). An empty netter off the stick of junior Deiter Stange (Niles, Ill.) would seal the deal, as the Lancers began 2023 on the right foot, with a 6-3 conference victory. 

Not to be left out on the night, senior Brendan Ronan (Saugus, Mass.) also had his fingerprints all over the score sheet, tallying a trio of assists. Kubik made 29 saves on 32 shots on the night in the win.

The Lancers will have a quick turnaround, heading up to Saint Anselm College for a non-conference dual on Saturday evening at 4:00 p.m. They'll head into that matchup now 5-7 on the season, but with a rather impressive 5-2 record in the MASCAC. UMass-Dartmouth now stands at 3-8-2 on the season, with a conference record at 2-4-1.