(Box Score) 

         WESTFIELD, Mass. -  Senior Casey Mignone (Ramsey, N.J.) registered two goals and an assist and freshman Danny Kaufman (Scotch Plains, N.J.) added a goal and two assists Saturday evening to lead Westfield State College to a 5-3 victory over Plymouth State University in men's ice hockey action.

         The Owls scored four unanswered goals from late in the first period to late in the second period, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead.  PSU stopped the bleeding with a goal later in the middle frame, but neither team could score in the final stanza and the home team held on for the win.  Westfield improves to 6-1-2 overall and 4-0-2 in the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference (MASCAC), while PSU is now 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the MASCAC.

         Mignone opened the scoring for Westfield State 1:51 into the game.  PSU took a 2-1 lead on consecutive goals by freshman Seth Phelan (Bristol, Conn.) and junior Tim Vicek (LaGrange Park, Ill.), with Phelan's coming on the power play.  Mignone's second of the game and seventh of the season knotted the score at 2-2 after one period, and the Owls tallied the next three goals in the second, one each by freshman Jason Nelson (Raleigh, N.C.), Kaufman and sophomore A.J. Shiverdecker (Kettering, Ohio).

         Freshman Matt Aponte (Plano, Texas) got one back for Plymouth State with three minutes to go in the second period to make it 5-3, and that ended up as all of the scoring.  Westfield State finished with a 39-27 advantage in shots, including 14-7 in the second period and 12-7 in the third.

         Sophomore Ian Wilson (Tulsa, Okla.) earned the win in goal for the Owls with a 24-save effort.  Freshman Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden) made 15 saves on 20 shots for PSU before being lifted midway through the second period in favor of senior Aaron Runner (Lebanon, Maine), who stopped all 19 shots he faced.

         Plymouth State is now idle for final exams and the holiday break, returning to action with five straight home games next month at Waterville Valley, beginning Saturday, Jan. 2 against the University of New England (6:00 p.m.) 

(Courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information)

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