Westfield State Freeze Out Men’s Hockey, 5-2

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Ice Hockey team traveled to Westfield State for a MASCAC matchup with the Owls at Amelia Park Ice Arena. The Trailblazers dug themselves an early hole, falling behind 4-0 through a bit over the first 24 minutes of play. Quinn Murphy and Sean Neu helped the Trailblazers dig their way back, cutting the Owls' lead in half before an empty net goal in the final minute of play sealed the game in the host's favor.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Thursday, January 30, 2025
• Score: MCLA 2, Westfield 5
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 2-15-1 (MASCAC 2-8-0) | Westfield State University Owls 10-8-0 (MASCAC 6-5-0)

HOW IT WENT DOWN

• Westfield State scored two goals in each of the first two periods before MCLA scored their first goal. The first period goals were credited to Brett Williams (at 6:36, assisted by Colin Roe) and Roe (10:19, Williams and Nicolas Coppola). The second period goals were from William Chausse (1:47, Christopher Miraldo) and Jere Puronlahti (4:12, Emile Pichette)
• MCLA kicked back into gear before the end of the second period when sophomore forward Quinn Murphy (Champaign, IL / Philadelphia H.C.) buried his second goal of the season on a power play at 13:54, aided by sophomore forward Easton Moore (Red Deer, AB / Florida Eels) and sophomore defenseman Alex Ferris (Enfield, CT / Northern Cyclones). Murphy's goal sent the Trailblazers into the second intermissions trailing 4-1.
• Sophomore forward Sean Neu (Wake Forest, NC / Protec Jr. Ducks) added MCLA's second goal with just over five and a half minutes to play, scoring his first goal of the year while White picked up his second assist of the game and sophomore forward Cade Herrera (Brentwood, CA / Seahawks H.C) was credited with his third of the season.
• The Owls' Tomas Muller would add an empty net unassisted goal with just under a minute remaining.
• Westfield's Esteban Gauthier stopped 21 of 23 shots to improve his record to 3-0-0, while sophomore goalie Mathew Gover (Atkinson, NH / East Coast Wizards) made 38 saves for MCLA, dropping to 2-15-0.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: MCLA 23, Westfield 43
• Saves: MCLA 38, Westfield 21
• Faceoffs Won: MCLA 38, Westfield 35
• Penalty/Minutes: MCLA 2/4:00, Westfield 4/8:00
• Power Plays: MCLA 1 for 4, Westfield 0 for 2

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when it hosts Fitchburg State at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink for a MASCAC matchup with the Falcons. The puck will drop at 5 p.m.

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