Worcester, MA- On Thursday evening, the Worcester State Men's Hockey team was back in action to take on Salem State hoping to obtain win number 11 in MASCAC play. The Lancers defeated the Vikings by a score of 5-2 to obtain the season series sweep against their MASCAC rivals and extend their MASCAC record to 11.
Heading into the game, Worcester State's main goal was to enforce its will on Salem State. Sophomore Wyatt Friedlander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) was able to deny the Vikings the first five minutes of the game, making some key saves. With 9:30 remaining in the opening period, the Lancers went on their first power play, but were unsuccessful with four shots directed at Salem State goalie Peter Barry. Just before the horn sounded on the first period, sophomore Martin Dlugolinsky (Stara Lubovna, Slovakia) was able to slide the puck past Barry to put Worcester State up 1-0 heading into the intermission.
As the second period began, Worcester State was determined to expand on their 1-0 advantage. Just under a minute into the middle period, Worcester State went on their second power play, which led to graduate student Nick Pennucci (Worcester, Mass.) finding the back of the net to increase the Lancer's advantage to 2-0. Dlugolinsky recorded his second point of the night with an assist on the play. With under six minutes remaining in the period, Worcester State was able to capitalize on another man advantage when senior Brendan Ronan (Saugus, Mass.) provided the Lancers a commanding 3-0 lead. By the end of period number two, not only did the Lancers hold a 3-0 lead, but a 39-24 shot advantage as well.
Leading into the third period, Worcester State tried to make sure that Salem State did not gain any momentum on their man advantage to start the period. Unfortunately for the Lancers, Salem State was able to get on the scoreboard 19 seconds into the third period when David Cicak was able to fire the puck past the red goal line. Then a little under two minutes later, Keagan O'Donoghue continued the momentum Salem State received from the second period by obtaining another goal and cutting the Lancer's lead to 3-2. The third-period goal highlight reel continued, but this time in favor of Worcester State when graduate student Henry Bruckner (Franklin, Mass.) was able to provide the Lancers some breathing room by expanding their goal advantage to 4-2. Senior Mikey Wilson (Alexandria, Va.) pushed Worcester State's advantage back to three goals when he slipped a puck into the Salem State goal. For the remainder of the game, Worcester State was able to keep Salem State off the scoreboard and ultimately come away with a 5-2 victory.
What's next:
Worcester State (12-11-1, 11-5-1) will return home for their final regular season contest on February 18 when they take on Fitchburg State with puck-drop at 3:00. Salem State (7-17, 5-11) will remain home on February 18 when they compete against Plymouth State with puck-drop at 2:00.