Men’s Hockey Skates Strong in 6–3 Setback to Anna Maria

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 Arena. Quinn Murphy and Cade Herrera posted multi-point games for the Trailblazers, but couldn't overcome two Anna Maria multi-goal scorers, falling to the AMCATs 6-3.

THE BASICS

• Date: Thursday, February 5, 2026
• Score: MCLA 3, AMC 6
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 4-13-3 (MASCAC 2-6-1) | Anna Maria College AMCATs 13-5-2 (MASCAC 7-1-1)

HOW IT WENT DOWN

• The AMCATS jumped out to an early lead, scoring a pair of goals in the first period of play. The first goal was credited to Owen Barrow (12:46 of 1^st period, assisted by Della-Paolera), with the assist going to Brandon Della-Paolera. The second came four and a half minutes later off the stick of Brady Harroun (17:06, LaHaie) and assisted by Andrew LaHaie.
• The Trailblazers jumped back into play during the second period, sandwiching an AMC goal with scores of their own. MCLA's first goal came on a sequence started by junior forward Cade Herrera (Brentwood, CA / Seahawks H.C) along the left boards and spun around to put the puck directly on the tape of junior forward Quinn Murphy (Champaign, IL / Philadelphia H.C.) (9:47 of 2^nd period, Herrera) who sniped a low shot past the goalie's glove side. The goal was the third of the season for Murphy, and the helper was the ninth for Herrera.
• Anna Maria would respond with a power play goal to restore their two-goal lead. This goal was scored by Braeden McKinnon (PP, 11:25, Baker & Wells) and assisted by Pearce Baker and Liam Wells.
• The Trailblazers weren't done, scoring a second goal with just over a minute left in the period. Junior defenseman Colin Ogborn (Linwood, NJ / Philadelphia H.C.) wristed a shot towards the net that was stopped by the goalie's blocker, but rebounded directly to freshman forward Jacob Smith (Medford, NJ / Philadelphia H.C.) (18:47, Ogborn & Perdion) in front of the net for an easier finisher. The goal was the second of the season for Smith, while the assists were the second for Ogborn and the third for freshman forward Sam Perdion (Strongsville, OH / Charlotte Rush), who had recovered the puck in the corner and passed it to Ogborn. MCLA would be trailing 3-2 after two periods.
• The opening minute of the third period saw the scoreboard change twice. First, it was McKinnon (00:18 of the 3^rd period, Baker) scoring for the home team. Herrera (00:38, Gallagher & Murphy) responded only 20 seconds later. Off a faceoff, AMC attempted to dump the puck into the MCLA defensive end, only to have the puck bounce hard off the end boards right out to junior defenseman Spencer Craig (Glendale, AZ / Northern Cyclones), who took the puck behind the Trailblazer net to allow his team to set up their offense. Craig reversed the puck along the boards out to junior forward Christopher Gallagher (Albany, NY / Islanders H.C.) on the right side. Gallagher brought the puck out of the MCLA end and sent it across the ice to Herrera as he came through the neutral zone. Herrera was able to break down the defender with a couple of deke moves, while also using the defender as a screen for the goalie, snapping off a shot that stayed low through the defense and pulling the visitors within a single goal at 4-3. The goal was Herrera's team leading ninth of the season, while the helpers were the third of the season for both Gallagher and Craig.
• It would be as close as the Trailblazers would get because the AMCATs stretched their lead with two more goals before the game ended. First Barrow (7:20, unassisted) netted his second goal of the night before Patrick Crooks (19:39.2, Ring) netted an empty net goal off an assist by Nolan Ring, setting the final score at 6-3.
• AMC's  Matthew Hennessey stopped 25 of 28 shots to improve his record to 11-3-2, while MCLA's freshman goalie Roco Stolz (Denver, CO / Charlotte Rush) recorded 29 saves and fell to 4-10-2.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: MCLA 28, AMC 35
• Saves MCLA 25, AMC 29
• Faceoffs Won: MCLA 39, AMC 38
• Penalty/Minutes: MCLA 4/8:00, AMC 1/2:00
• Power Plays: MCLA 0 for 0, AMC 1 for 3

UP NEXT

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

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