Worcester, MA- After claiming their fourth straight win and a crucial post season win versus UMass-Dartmouth last saturday, the Worcester State Men's Ice Hockey team (10-8-1, 7-5-1) are looking to make it five in a row tonight as they host Framingham State. Tonight's game is also the second Annual Dog Toy Toss to benefit the Worcester Animal Rescue League in which the fans are encouraged to bring a dog toy to donate, that will be thrown on the ice at the Lancers first goal. Last year's event brought in over 100s in dog toys and donations.

Final

Worcester State: 2

Framingham State: 3

How it Happened:

The contest, and the first period came underway, with the first touches going to Framingham State but were unable to capitalize as the Lancers halted their assault on the goal. This would not be their only chance to score during the period as the Rams would hold the time of possession advantage and shots taken in the first period. This meant Lancers had to play lights out defense to keep pace in the period and senior Jakub Kubik (Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic) would deliver just that. The Lancers would increase their offensive aggression as they looked to change things up in the ice turning the contest into a close bout until one minute left in the first, where Framingham scored a late period goal to take a 1-0 lead.

The second began with the Lancers starting out very aggressive offensively, trying to bring the game back to equilibrium. This aggressiveness, coupled with angst, would not translate into early success as the Rams were able to counter the aggressiveness with two additional goals. Worcester would show a lot of fight in the second period, but they were unable to cut into the deficit. Framingham leads 3-0, as we waited for the third, and final period to begin. 

Down 3-0, the Lancers looked to climb back into the game and within the first minute of the third it was looking possible as senior Cody Porcello (Melrose, Massachusetts) netted a very important first goal for the Lancers. Roughly five minutes later senior Matthew Peckham (Plymouth, Massachusetts) gets to the back of the net to make it a one goal game.The Lancers would get to go on a 5 on 3 power play midway through and they were able to get good looks at the goal, but were unable to capitalize on it to tie the game up at three. The Lancers would then pull their goalie late in the period in hopes for late game magic, but they fell short at the end as the magic ran dry in the 3-2 battle.

Kubik would wrap up the night with 35 saves in the action for the Lancers as he works on inching his way closer to 2,000 career saves.

What's Next:

The Lancers (10-9-1, 7-6-1) have just a day between games as they jump right back into action to host MCLA on Thursday night for a 7:30pm start.