Ice Hockey Fights Back But Worcester State Ends Up On Top, 4-3

Page scores his first and second goals of the season


Hall scores his third goal of the season and 16th of his career

WORCESTER, Massachusetts (December 11, 2018) – The Stonehill College men's ice hockey team came from behind, but three goals wasn't enough as Worcester State University topped the Skyhawks 4-3 in non-conference play Tuesday night at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center.

For Stonehill, (3-8-0), Christopher Page scored two goals and Jack Hall tallied one goal, while Shamus Maloney tallied two assists, and Connor Collier, Cameron Wright, and Sean Conley chipped in one assist each. Senior goaltender Billy Palmer recorded 26 saves in the game.

Both teams took a while to get a tally on board as both teams skated around in the first minutes of the game to get the feel for the flow of the game. Late in the first period after a faceoff in the Lancers offensive zone, Worcester State was able to capitalize on the first power play of the game as Matthew Manning crashed the cage and put the first tally on the board for a 1-0 lead at 12:34 with an assist from Tim Drevitch. Skyhawks had their first power play with 22-seconds remaining in the period, and kicked off the second period with time remaining. Stonehill was only able to get three shots off during the power play as the Lancers continued pressuring the Skyhawks with a 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes after the end of the power play in the second period, Worcester State's initial back hander from Ryan James was saved by Palmer and James was able to send a second back hander to the cage as it slid under palmer's pads at 3:27 for a two-goal lead, 2-0. The Skyhawks and Lancers began to get more and more aggressive as 5 penalties were called in the period bringing the total to eight in the game. At 16:07, Collier found Page on the left side of the cage who turned the puck around for his first goal of the season, cutting the deficit to one, 2-1. Worcester State was quick to respond as Mitch Purdie found the back of the net at 19:11 after skating down the ice with a three-on-two against the Skyhawks after passes from Manning and Evan Schieber, extending their lead back to two, 3-1.


Maloney notches two assists totaling six for the season and 12 in his career

Early in the third period, the Lancers' goaltender Aaron Callan pushed the puck behind the cage as Wright took the dish towards the right circle in their offensive zone and found Maloney at the top of the circle. Maloney sent a quick pass to Hall for a one timer at 2:27 cutting the deficit to one, 3-2. Palmer fended off the Lancer's aggressive offensive attack during the Skyhawks' fifth penalty of the game at 3:04 in the third frame. The Lancers' CJ Buckingham dished in the second power play goal of the game as he deflected the initial wrist shot from Sean Gavin at 16:49 to put Worcester State back up by two, 4-2. The Skyhawks did not give up and Stonehill pulled Palmer from the net after their timeout with 17 minutes elapsed. With the extra man on the ice, Stonehill's Page pushed in the puck at 17:12 for his second goal of the game and his ninth goal of the season, cutting the deficit to one again, 4-3. Worcester State continued to defend Stonehill's offensive attack with three minutes left and the Lancers were called for their sixth penalty of the game but time expired as they broke their three-game losing streak.

Stonehill takes a break from play before hosting Johnson & Wales University on Saturday, January 5 for non-conference play with a 5:10 p.m. puck drop before getting back to Northeast-10 Conference play for a two road games against Saint Anselm College.  

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