By Danielle Achin
The Rams Ice Hockey team suffered another loss on home ice against Westfield State Feb. 1.
Westfield immediately opened the game with a goal against FSU just over a minute into the game for the early 1-0 lead.
Rams goalie Trevor Stenburg fought back to block the shots made at the net. Stenburg saved four other shots from Westfield in just over two minutes.
With the Owls still holding the 1-0 lead, sophomore Matthew Paiotti came in for the assist from
freshman Elijah Slagter and snuck in a goal to knot the score 1-1.
After a flurry of shots from both teams, the first period ended with a 1-1 standstill going into the second.
Starting in the second period, both teams were met with an incredible amount of power play
opportunities.
With both teams struggling to find an opening in the net and with just over three minutes left in the period, the 1-1 tie finally broke with the Owls scoring against the Rams for the 2-1 lead.
Third period began with a power play opportunity for the Owls just three minutes in.
Westfield scored their third of the night when Justin Collins came in for the shot o= a pass from Joseph Carbone.
With just under five minutes to play, the Rams converted on a double power play 5-3 advantage and answered with a back of the net shot by freshman Patrick Coglan, advancing the score 3-2.
The Rams gained another opportunity to tie the score after another power play penalty was called against Westfield, but soon after an infraction was called against FSU, ruining the power play advantage.
In the final seconds of the game, Stenburg was pulled from the net, allowing the Owls to make the final goal of the game for the 4-2 loss for FSU.
Freshman Ashton Collazo spoke on his team’s performance. He said dealing with bad days is just a part of life and it will not discourage the team’s confidence.
“Bad days are only as bad as you make them and only last as long as you let them. As a team, I am happy with how far we have come. We understand our jobs and we don’t make it an easy game or roll over by any means,” Collazo said.
“We have at least 15 freshmen and sophomores, most likely more than that and it’s exciting! We have a lot of young guys in the lineup each night gaining valuable experience that we will need in the coming years,” he added.
Collazo said scoring “dirty goals” in front of the net is going to be one area to improve on for the upcoming games.
The Rams are playing on home ice Feb. 5 for more MASCAC action against Fitchburg State.