Men’s Hockey Passed by Anna Maria, 4-2

AUBURN, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Ice Hockey team took to the road this evening for a MASCAC matchup with the Anna Maria College AMCATs at the Horgan Skating Arena. Easton Moore and Addam Brunner each scored their first goals of the season for the Trailblazers, but four different AMCATs also found the back of the net as the hosts won the first-ever MASCAC meeting of the teams.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Thursday, January 9, 2025
• Score: MCLA 2, Anna Maria 4
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 1-10-0 (MASCAC 1-4-0) | Anna Maria College AMCATs 8-4-0 (MASCAC 4-1-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sophomore center Easton Moore (Red Deer, AB / Florida Eels) put the first point on the board for the Trailblazers, scoring as the first period slipped under the three-minute remaining mark. Moore made the most of a sloppy pass by the AMCATs as they attempted to get the puck through center ice. Moore's first shot was well wide to the right of the net but rebounded along the boards directly to the stick of sophomore forward Luke Rhoss (Monroe, NY / Philadelphia H.C.). Rhoss fired off a shot toward the net that Moore redirected between the goalie's glove side and the right edge of the cage. The goal was Moore's first of the season. The goal would be the only scoring in an active period that saw the teams combine for 27 shots on net, 14 by Anna Maria and 13 by MCLA.
• AMC came out of the intermission with a new fire in their eyes, scoring an equalizer only eight seconds into the second frame. The goal was credited to Braeden McKinnon (at 0:08, assisted by Matthew Byrne & Derek Raposo). Just short of the midpoint in the period, the AMCATs took their first lead of the night when Matthew Gilbert (9:52, unassisted) knocked home a power-play goal.
• Sophomore forward Addam Brunner (Hamburg, NY / Walpole Express) pulled the Trailblazers back to even with the hosts, scoring his first of the year with a slapshot from the left slot directly off a faceoff won by sophomore center Charlie Addesa (Andover, MA / Worcester Railers).
• With the Trailblazers playing their second game in three days, the more rested Anna Maria team started to pull away late in the second period, outshooting the Trailblazers 23-10, before using a 13-5 edge in the third period to score two more goals. The first third-period goal was put home by Raposo (12:37, Dylan McElhinny) and Liam Wells (17:07, unassisted) added an insurance goal with just under three minutes remaining.
• Matthew Hennessey made 26 saves on 28 shots to improve his record to 3-1-0. For MCLA, sophomore goaltender Mathew Gover (Atkinson, NH / East Coast Wizards) took the loss to fall to 1-10-0 despite making 46 stops.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: MCLA 28, Anna Maria 50
• Saves: MCLA 46, Anna Maria 26
• Faceoffs Won: MCLA 40, Anna Maria 42
• Penalty/Minutes: MCLA 4/8:00, Anna Maria 5/10:00
• Power Plays: MCLA 0 for 5, Anna Maria 1 for 3

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when they play host to Worcester State for a MASCAC matchup with the Lancers at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink. The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m.

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