Worcester, MA- In a crucial conference game, the Worcester State Men's Ice Hockey team (8-8-1, 5-5-1) takes on the Westfield State Owls at the Fidelity Bank Ice Center. Worcester State is on a perfectly timed surge in conference, having just claimed the win from FItchburg State 4-3 on Tuesday to further solidify their seeding in the conference, with today's game playing a potentially pivotal role in the final standing.

Final

Worcester State: 4

Westfield State: 2

How it Happened:

In the opening few minutes between the Lancers and Owls a back and forth game commenced with each team creating solid chances. The Owls would be the first to strike with 11:38 to go in the first period through Emile Pichette. A little less than two minutes later the game would see its first two penalties of the game but neither team was able to find success in their power play as both the Lancers and Owls would have to deal with some adversity as they would play with four men. This would help open the game up as the Lancers would be able to  capitalize on their chances shortly after. To open up the scoring for the Lancers, junior Shane Prifrel (Inver Grove Heights, Minn) would bag one through sophomores forwards Matthew Nuzzolilo (Worcester, MA) and Sterling Nash (Seattle, WA) passes with 6:46 remaining in the period. Not even a minute later the Lancers would build on to their momentum and score through grad-student Brian Clougherty (Lynn, Mass.) set up by senior Brigham Neuhold (Edmond, Okla. / Edmond Santa Fe) and sophomore Luc Fricchione (West SPringfield, MA). In the last few minutes, both teams battled well and showcased that it would be a chippy affair for the rest of this conference matchup. 

The Lancers would only have four men to start the period after a late penalty call to wrap up the first. After some great defensive play the Lancers would successfully kill the penalty and look to extend their lead. Minutes after Worcester State would now have a chance to get on the front foot due to a hooking penalty called on Westfield. From that point forward both teams' defenses seemed to get an upper hand as we would see a scoreless 2nd period. The Lancer's senior Wyatt Friedlander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) would keep making brilliant saves building on a strong run of games for him. Like the end of the first we would see another penalty called on the Lancers where they would have to buckle down together to keep Westfield out of their net. 

Coming into the 3rd the Lancers would kill the power play once more showing great spirit and physicality to get it done. The two teams would tussle to gain ground with the Lancers being the eventual success story as senior Martin Dlugolinsky (Stara Lubovna, Slovakia) would break away from the pressure to record the third goal for Worcester State. Westfield would opt to pull their goalie at the end of the period in an attempt to cut into the lead, finding success with just two and half to go, but the empty net trick would only last so long before Neuhold would launch the puck into the top of the net four goal number four with seconds left to solidify the victory. 

Friedlander would end the night with 36 saves in the action while Neuhold would be the points leader with a goal and an assist.  

What's Next:

Worcester State (9-8-1, 6-5-1) will jump right back into action next Thursday as they head to face one of the top teams in the conference in Anna Maria on February 6th at 5:40pm.