By Dylan Botelho, Staff Writer
The Corsairs moved into a three-way tie for second place in the MASCAC after defeating the Worcester State Lancers 6-5 in overtime on Thursday night at the Hetland Ice Arena. The Lancers came into Thursday looking to break away from the pack and take sole possession of second place.
They left Hetland however, battered, bruised, and with another team on their back looking to make the break themselves.
It was a high-energy game. Players from both sides came out of the gates flying but it was UMass Dartmouth that had the lead after period one. Brendan McDonough scored on his first two shots of the game, beating Worcester State’s goal-tender one-on-one twice.
The Corsairs looked to be heading into the second period up a score until the Lancers’ Jake Karelas scored a snipe with only 2:56 left remaining in the period to tie it 1-1. Luckily, McDonough had an even greater flair for the dramatics and scored after Karelas with only 1:01 remaining in the first frame.
In the second period, the game was blown wide-open. The Corsairs looked dominant throughout the game but the Lancers continued to claw their way back in it. The Corsairs finished the period 4-3, only one goal up on their opponent, yet it seemed like it was their game to lose. Both teams exchanged goals in the second, with Casey Shea putting the Corsairs up two again before Mike Palmer of Worcester State closed the gap again.
The same sequence followed when Jonathan Ruiz scored on the power-play for his team-leading 15th goal and 30th point of the year. Mike Moran scored a late period goal, bringing his team within one again heading into the third period thanks to a goal with only two seconds remaining in the second period.
In the third period of regulation, the Lancers completely erased their one-goal deficit and were finally on-par with the Corsairs since the game was last 0-0 thanks to a second goal from Mike Moran and first from Ryan James.
Before they would tie the game, however, Mason Nichols would score his second goal of the season for the Corsairs giving them a one-goal lead for just a sliver of time. After James’s tying score with six minutes remaining in the third, neither team was able to capitalize and steal the game late, leading us to some free overtime hockey.
We didn’t get much of it however. Only two minutes into the overtime period, the Corsairs sent the Lancers packing when Nichols found first-year player Dillion Radin for his first collegiate goal and 6-5 game-winner.
The UMass Dartmouth Corsairs look to break free from the second place pack on Friday, February 1 when they host Fitchburg State at 7:35 p.m.