Men’s Hockey Storm Back for OT Win at UMass-Dartmouth

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Hockey went on the road for their third of three meetings with UMass-Dartmouth. This round was played at the Hetland Arena, and the Trailblazers fell behind by a pair of goals early in the second period but didn't hang their heads and instead mounted a comeback to record the team's first overtime win since the program was reinstated. Sean Schifferl scored the game-winner, Cade Herrera scored the equalizer, and Cody White scored the visitor's first of the game.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Thursday, February 1, 2024
• Score: MCLA 3, UMass-Dartmouth 2 OT
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 4-15-1 (MASCAC 2-13-1) | UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs 12-8-0 (MASCAC 10-6-0)

HIGHLIGHTS

• After a scoreless first period, UMass-Dartmouth scored both of their goals in a span of only eight seconds early in the second period. The first goal was scored on the power play as the clock neared the 13-and-a-half-minute mark by Michael Perrone (at 6:28, assisted by Kevin Johnston and Lane Ruffner) from the top half of the left-hand faceoff circle.
• Following the faceoff, the Corsairs got their second scoring opportunity before anyone had a chance to settle back into their seats. The goal came when Collin Patterson (6:36, Alex Walker) took a feed from the wing, split through the MCLA defense, and lifted the puck into the top corner of the net.
• The Trailblazers' Cody White (16:22, Addam Brunner) cut that lead in half about ten minutes later just after MCLA successfully killed off a penalty. Matthew Castillo started a fast break going the other way, passing the puck ahead to White, who skated into the neutral zone and passed off to Brunner at the blue line. White then streaked to the net and was given a clean feed from Brunner between the faceoff circles, beating the goalie for his third goal of the season.
• Cade Herrera (4:47, Shane Green and Colin Ogborn) scored the equalizer in the third period with a power play goal. Herrera fired off a wrister that went wide of the goal but rebounded off the end boards out to Ogborn above the right-hand face-off circle. Ogborn passed to Green along the blue line, and Green sent it to Herrera above the left face-off circle. Herrera juked a UMass defender out of his skates before he put a puck between the goalie's right shoulder and the pipe for his 10^th goal of the year.
• With the game tied, the teams played the remainder of the game to a draw and went into the Trailblazers' third overtime game of the year. During the three-on-three session, both teams got off one shot before Sean Schifferl (1:23, Charlie Addesa) decided to call the game and ended it with his seventh goal of the year. After the puck had leaked out of their offensive zone, Addesa corralled the puck in the neutral zone, passed to Schifferl along the boards, as he cut back towards center ice. Schifferl skated back into the zone, did a little shake-and-bake move to get past a Corsair defender, and then forced the puck through the goalie for the win.
• MCLA's Mathew Gover made 46 saves and improved his season record to 3-12-1, while UMass-Dartmouth's Marshall McKallip was saddled with the loss, falling to 5-3-0 after stopping 24 of the 27 shots on goal.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots (Shots on Goal): MCLA 51 (27), UMass-Dartmouth 83 (48)
• Saves: MCLA 46, UMass-Dartmouth 24
• Faceoffs Won: MCLA 39, UMass-Dartmouth 42
• Penalty/Minutes: MCLA 6/12:00, UMass-Dartmouth 3/6:00
• Power Plays: MCLA 1 for 2, UMass-Dartmouth 1 for 5

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when they play host to #15 ranked Plymouth State for a MASCAC matchup with the Panthers at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink. The puck will drop at 7 p.m.

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