Bridgewater, MA --- For the second straight night the Owls would need overtime to try to pick up the additional point and for the second straight night the game would end in a tie. It was a tale of two teams this afternoon at the Bridgewater Ice Arena. In the first half of the game, the Owls were battling two teams out on the ice and found themselves in a hole but in the second half they showed why they were American Conference regular season champions last year as they never gave up and showed a ton of heart to come back from being down four goals.
Bridgewater State would get on the board early when Kyle Anderson gave the Bears a 1-0 lead only 2:17 into the first period. Westfield State would tie the game up two minutes later with a goal from Will MacDonald. Matt Spadorcia and Sean Parsons would pick up assists on the goal. The Owls would find themselves in penalty trouble and the Bears would strike twice in under two minutes with power play goals to give Bridgewater the 3-1 lead after the first period.
Ryan Leonard would make it a one goal game with a highlight reel goal coming in front of the net and patiently out waiting Bears goaltender Matthew Scott. However, like the first period, the Bears would get two more power play goals but this time both were 5 on 3's. The Bears would add another goal and would take a commanding 6-2 lead into the final period.
For the next 25 minutes, the Owls carried most of the play and it all started when Tim Walsh scored to cut the lead in half at 15:11. Midway through the third period, Greg Rice found Sean Parsons open at the point. Sean walked in towards the top of the circle and fired a shot to beat Scott high. For Parsons and Walsh, it was their first collegiate goals. Three minutes later, Nick Rose would make it a one goal game with a short-handed goal with 6:02 remaining in the third period. The comeback would be complete when Tim Walsh scored his second goal of the night with 3:47 remaining in regulation. The Owls would continue to pressure in Bridgewater's zone for the rest of regulation and overtime but the two teams would each get a point as the game ended in a 6-6 tie.
The Owls will practice Tuesday night at 10:00 PM before heading home for winter break. The Owls conclude the fall semester with a 4-2-3-1 record and are currently in second place in the Southwest Division. They will open up the spring semester on January 26th when they travel to Connecticut to play Eastern Connecticut State University.
Goals: MacDonald (2), Leonard (3), Walsh (1,2) Parsons (1), Rose (3)
Saves: DiMare (23)
Power Play: 1 for 7 (14%)
Penalty Kill: 6 for 10 (60%)