Salem State Holds Off Men's Hockey 4-0

SALEM, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Ice Hockey Team wrapped up their season-opening slate of road games this evening when they traveled to meet up with Salem State at the Rockett Arena for their first MASCAC game of the year. The teams played to a scoreless draw through the first two periods before the Viking offense came to life, scoring two goals in the first 7:10 of the period and then adding two more in the final 1:16 to take the game 4-0.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, November 9, 2024
• Score: MCLA 0, Salem State 4
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 0-3-0 (MASCAC 0-1-0) | Salem State University Vikings 1-2-0 (MASCAC 1-0-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams played evenly through the first two periods, with MCLA outshooting Salem in the first period 15-10, while the Vikings took a 15-14 edge in the second period.
• Salem broke that pattern early in the third period when Carson James found the back of the cage on a pass from Shane Taddia with precisely two minutes off the clock. Just over five minutes later, it was another Carson, this time Carson Whitman scoring at the 7:10 mark with assists credited to Nick Sweet and Aren Francis.
• With the clock running under two minutes remaining, the Trailblazers pulled their goalie for the extra skater. However, the hosts still managed to clear the puck from their defensive end, and Sean McWhinnie picked up an empty net goal, assisted by Taddia and James, with 1:16 to go.
• As the clock wound under a minute to play, Luke Day added the capper for the Vikings, adding a power-play goal with the aid of Davis Kinne.
• Salem's Will Nepveu maintained a clean sheet, stopping all 39 shots he faced and leveled his season record at 1-1-0, while MCLA's sophomore goalie Mathew Gover (Atkinson, NH / East Coast Wizards) had his third straight game with more than 30 saves, stopping 38 shots, and still fell to 0-3-0 on the year.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: MCLA 39, Salem 42
• Saves: MCLA 38, Salem 39
• Faceoffs Won: MCLA 26, Salem 48
• Penalty/Minutes: MCLA 6/12:00, Salem 3/6:00
• Power Plays: MCLA 0 for 2, Salem 1 for 5

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when they play host to Westfield State for a MASCAC matchup with the Owls at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink. The puck will drop at 8 p.m.

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