Senior Kevin Aufiero scored and added an assist in Stonehill's 3-2 win at Westfield State tonight. |
Skyhawks head into month long break on seven game unbeaten streak
WESTFIELD, Mass. (December 10, 2014) – Junior forward Garrett White (Wakefield, Massachusetts/Boston Bulldogs) scored the go-ahead goal with 10.7 seconds remaining in the second period and Stonehill College held on for a 3-2 victory over Westfield State University this evening in non-conference men's ice hockey action at Amelia Park.
White's goal in the closing seconds of the second period snapped a 2-2 tie, after Westfield State had battled back from a 2-0 deficit with a pair of goals earlier in the period. Senior goaltender Chris Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Massachusetts/Thayer Academy) stopped all 11 of the shots that came his way over the final 20 minutes to preserve Stonehill's second consecutive victory. Tasiopoulos made 26 saves in the contest.
Senior forward Kevin Aufiero (Canton, Massachusetts/Walpole Express) recorded two points on a goal and an assist for the Skyhawks, while junior Anthony D'Elia (Stamford, Connecticut/Gunnery School) also found the back of the net. Senior defenseman Brendan Greene (Weymouth, Massachusetts/Boston Advantage) and juniors Kevin Airoldi (Kennebunk, Maine/Boston Jr. Rangers), Scott Rolph (Bow, New Hampshire/Tilton School), and Travis Army (Englewood, Colorado/Worcester Academy) were credited with assists.
Westfield State sophomore netminder Jonathan LoParco (Vaughan, Ontario/Bradford Rattlers) faced a barrage of shots throughout the contest, turning aside 40 in 43 opportunities, including 16 in the second period.
Senior forward TJ Powers (East Greenwich, Rhode Island/Fresno Monsters) and freshman Nik Passero (Fort Erie, Ontario/Fort Erie Meteors) scored for the Owls, while sophomore Maxime Richard (Trois-Rivieres, Quebec/Amherst Ramblers) helped set up both goals with a pair of assists.
Stonehill jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 4:08 into the contest when D'Elia scored his third goal of the season with the help of Airoldi and Rolph. The Skyhawks outshot the Owls 13-7 in the first period and carried their one-score lead into the first intermission.
White |
For the second consecutive period, Stonehill struck for an early goal. This time it was Aufiero tallying his team-leading sixth of the season (4th in NE-10) on the power play to stake the Skyhawks to a 2-0 advantage.
Westfield State would storm back to tie the contest with a pair of goals just 2:43 apart, however. Passero got the Owls on the board at the 5:03 mark, before Powers capped a 2-on-0 breakaway with Richard by burying his third goal of the season past Tasiopoulos at 7:46 of the second period.
The game appeared to be headed for the third period locked in a 2-2 tie, before White got in past the Westfield State defense for a breakaway goal with 10.7 seconds remaining in the second. The Owls put 11 shots on net in the final 20 minutes and pulled LoParco in favor of an extra attacker late in the contest, but the Skyhawks held on with the help of Tasiopoulos.
Stonehill (5-2-2, 3-0-1 NE-10), winners of two straight and unbeaten in its last seven contests since opening the season with a pair of losses, is off until January 8th, when the Skyhawks will return to the Foxboro Sports Center to host Suffolk University. Westfield State (7-4, 4-2 MASCAC) is back in action on January 7th with a non-conference matchup against Becker College at Amelia Park.
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