UMass Dartmouth Sinks Ice Hockey, 8-4

UMass Dartmouth 8, Worcester State 4

Box Score

Auburn, MA --- Junior Todd Bartleson (Pepperell, MA) and sophomore Rob Dudley (Douglas, MA) registered two goals and an assist apiece to help lead UMass Dartmouth to an 8-4 win in MASCAC men’s ice hockey action this evening at Horgan memorial rink.

With the win the Corsairs snap a four game drought to improve to 8-14-1 and 3-12-1 in the MASCAC while the Lancers slip to 5-14-2 and 3-10-2 in the conference.

Bartleson started the visitors off with the quick 1-0 lead as he scored nine seconds into the game on a feed from junior Joe Hill (Newburyport, MA). UMD built up on their advantage as they scored four minutes apart on a pair of goals by Dudley midway through the period.

Worcester State would pull their starting goalie for senior Andrew Evans (Cromwell, CT) who would shut UMass Dartmouth down and allowed WSC to get back into the game. The Lancers ended the first stanza with a goal by junior Chris Wallin (Avon, CT) at 15:53 and began the second frame with senior Mark Rintel’s (Oakland Gardens, NY) team-leading 11th goal at 3:10 to make the score 3-2.

But the Corsairs battled back as third-year Jason Stahl (Londonderry, NH) put UMass Dartmouth up 4-2 at 8:18.

Junior Shaun Tribbett (Austin, TX) helped the Blue and Gold get back to within a goal 1½ minutes later, but the visitors would score three unanswered markers to take control of the game. Hill tacked on the game-winning tally with 11:34 remaining in the second and then senior Aaron Blades (Chino, CA) and Bartleson scored five minutes apart to begin the third.

Down 7-3, Worcester State decided to make things interesting as junior Billy O’Neill (Strafford, PA) notched an unassisted goal on a breakaway at 8:24, but after that Corsairs would keep the Lancers off the board for the rest of the game. UMD freshman Phil Bronner (Wilbraham, MA) added the exclamation point with 21 ticks remaining in the game for the final score.

UMass Dartmouth would kill a pair of penalties in the final 10 minutes of the game as WSC would go 0-for-3 for the game on power plays. The Corsairs would outshoot Worcester State 24-4 in the opening frame, but they would only hold the 24-19 lead for the final two periods. UMD was 0-for-2 with the extra-man advantage.

Freshman Zach Hansen (Dexter, MI) and Evans combined for 41 saves while junior Colin Tracy (Medford, MA) and senior Jon Dryjowicz-Burek (Ludlow, MA) split time as they amassed 19 stops for the visitors.

Rintel, Evans, Andrew Brady (Oreland, PA), Dan Drinkwater (Walpole, MA), Dillon Wilde (Rutland, MA), Tim Stalmok (Paxton, MA) and Lee Belisle (Chicopee, MA) were honored in a pre-game ceremony for playing in their last home game on “senior night.”

The Lancers look to maintain their hold on fifth place in the MASCAC as they are now a single point ahead of the sixth place Corsairs and three points ahead of Framingham State, who is at the bottom of the standings.

Worcester State plays again on Saturday when they travel to Fitchburg State for a 7 PM face off while UMass Dartmouth takes break for the week as they will entertain the Rams in a key conference matchup next Thursday at 7:30.