Finals



Westfield, MA --- Just a quick message wishing our players luck as they enter finals week. Hope everyone has a safe break and a great holiday season.
                                                                     From,
                                                                     Coach Godfrey & Coach Lachance

Regional Ranking #2



Owls Rally For A Point Against Bridgewater

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.

GAME SHEET: 12/2/2012 @ BRIDGEWATER STATE

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%)

Owls Gain Another Point Against Holy Cross

Westfield, MA --- For the second straight game against Holy Cross, 60 minutes wouldn't be enough. The two teams would each earn a point in a 1-1 tie. Holy Cross, who has yet to lose a conference game in regulation, would grab the early lead 5:19 into the first period when Ryan Kennedy curled around the right wing circle and fired a shot past Owls goaltender Nick Franco. Franco made a number of unbelievable saves and would end up making 28 saves on the night. The Crusaders would take the one goal lead into the first intermission.

The Owls came out strong in the second period and would take advantage on a bad change by Holy Cross. Nick Rose would come in on a 2 on 0 breakaway and would fire the puck over the shoulder of Jack Kenney to tie the game at a goal a piece.

That would be all the scoring in the game as each team had several opportunities to take the lead but the goaltenders came up big to keep the game tied.

The Owls finished the season series with Holy Cross with a record of 0-0-1-1. They travel down to Bridgewater, MA tomorrow afternoon for another huge divisional game against Bridgewater State. Game updates for tomorrow's game will be on the team's twitter and will be updated during the intermissions.

GAME SHEET: 12/1/2012 VS HOLY CROSS

Goals: Rose (2)
Saves: Franco (28)
Power Play: 0 for 4 (0%)
Penalty Kill: 5 for 5 (100%)

OWLS GAME DAY: HOLY CROSS



Westfield, MA --- The Westfield State Owls return from Thanksgiving break with two big divisional  games this weekend. The Owls will host Holy Cross on Saturday, December 1st at 5:00 PM. This is the second and final meeting between these two clubs. The Crusaders beat Westfield 4-3 in overtime back in October. Follow the team's twitter for game updates.