Vikings Sink Rams on Senior Night 4-2

By Larry Miller/Framingham State athletics

FRAMINGHAM, MA -- The Framingham State men’s ice hockey team lost to visiting Salem State by a score of 4-2 in MASCAC action Saturday evening at Loring Arena in Framingham.

With the win the Vikings improve to 19-5 and 14-2 in the MASCAC.

The Rams slip to 5-18-1 and 4-12-1 in league play.

However, with Worcester State’s loss this evening the Rams have clinched a spot in the MASCAC tournament that begins next weekend.

Prior to game the Rams honored the four seniors playing in their final season: Rich Hill (Tampa, FL), Melvin Nichols (Alexandria, VA), Cameron Hoffman (Fort Stevens, WA) & Ricky O’Connor (North Andover, Mass.).

After skating to an even first period the Vikings got on the board in the 7th minute of the second period when John Needham scored with assists from Andrew Bucci and Daniel Campbell. Just under 10 minutes later the visitors struck again when Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, RI) scored an unassisted goal.

The Rams cut the lead to one in the final minute of the second period when junior Vaughn Guetens scored a power-play goal with an assist coming from Hayden Lyle .

The Vikings extended their lead back to two goals just about midway through the third when Cam Moniz forced a turnover in the offensive zone and converted on the breakaway.

The Rams scored again on the man-advantage in the 14th minute when Tyler Colacchio scored with assists coming from Guetens and O’Connor.

The Vikings scored in the 19th minute of play to reach the final margin when Casey Miller scored on the power-play.

The Rams were 2-of-8 on the power-play while the Vikings were 1-of-7 on the man advantage.

Jason Pucciarelli made 27 saves in the victory for the Vikings while Alessio Muggli (Rueti, Switzerland) made 38 stops for the Rams.

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The Framingham State men’s hockey team will close out its regular season schedule with a trip to UMass. Dartmouth on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd.