Men’s Hockey Drop Heartbreaker to Westfield State 2-1

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.— The MCLA Men's Ice Hockey team came within three minutes and 15 seconds of recording the first shutout since the program was rebooted but suffered a heartbreaking loss to Westfield State by a score of 2-1.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, November 18, 2023
• Score: Westfield State 2, MCLA 1
• Records: Westfield State 4-1-1 (MASCAC 2-1-1) | MCLA Trailblazers 1-4-1 (MASCAC 0-4-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• MCLA were the first ones on the scoreboard, scoring a power-play goal just past the midway point of the first period. Westfield State's Raphael Seguin was called for a slashing penalty at 10:42. The Trailblazers only needed 12 seconds with the man advantage to make the Owls pay. Charlie Addesa gathered a rebound of a shot by Shane Green in between the faceoff circles, passed it to Sean Schifferl, standing on the left faceoff dot, and fired a one-timer through the five-hole of the Westfield goalie.
• The score would remain 1-0 until there was 3:15 left in regulation when the Owls finally pulled even. The Trailblazers had just fought off a five-on-three advantage for the Owls following a pair of minor penalties that were called with 5:18 to play. As the MCLA players left the penalty box, Westfield State's Christopher Miraldo finally solved the riddle that had been MCLA's Mat Gover, scoring on a pass from Daniel Finegan that had passed through the crease. Emile Pichette was also credited with an assist.
• As the clock ticked under a minute remaining in regulation, Miraldo again found a way past Gover with assists from Ryan O'Halloran and Thomas Reily.
• Gover would finish the game with 51 saves on 53 shots but still saw his season record drop to 1-4-1. While Westfield State's goalie, Kevin Chandler, was less tested, he still stood tall to make 13 saves on 14 opportunities and improved to 4-1-1.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: Westfield State 53, MCLA 14
• Saves: Westfield State 13, MCLA 51
• Faceoffs Won: Westfield State 44, MCLA 36
• Penalty/Minutes: Westfield State 6/12:00, MCLA 10/20:00
• Power Plays: Westfield State 0 for 9, MCLA 1 for 5

UP NEXT:

On Tuesday, MCLA will be back in action when they play host to Western New England University for a non-conference matchup with the Golden Bears at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink. The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m.

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