Senior goalie Collin Tracy (Medford, Mass.) pushed aside 31 shots to lead the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs (2-0 overall) to a 4-1 victory over the Suffolk University Rams (2-2 overall) on Saturday evening.
The Corsairs used a pair of first period goals to propel themselves to start the 2010-11 campaign with a 2-0 record. Junior Rob Dudley (Douglas, Mass.) got the visitors on the board in the first period netting his second goal of the young season with helpers from junior Andrew Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) and junior Mike Owens (South Boston, Mass.).
UMass-Dartmouth would strike again with thirteen seconds remaining in the first period as senior Mickey Dudley (Douglas, Mass.) deflected a shot into the Suffolk net for what would turn out to be the game-winner.
Suffolk answered quickly however as sophomore Andrew Monesi (Simi Valley, Calif.) went top shelf for his first goal of the season after a scramble in front of the net. Freshman Max Barron (St. Louis, Mo.) and sophomore Ryan Fitzpatrick (Mission Viejo, Calif.) helped set the play up pushing the puck deep into the Corsairs' zone off of the faceoff to cut the lead to 2-1 heading into the first intermission.
Tracy pushed aside 19 shots over the next two periods and the Corsairs added a goal in each of the final two frames.
Senior Todd Bartelson (Pepperell, Mass.) put home his second goal of the year as his shot trickled past the left skate of a sprawling Jeff Rose (Collinsville, Conn.) in the second period.
Mike Owens put the game away for the Corsairs as he scored with a little over four minutes remaining in regulation. Owens took an up ice pass from junior Justin Pye (Medford, Mass.) and went in alone beating Rose through the five-hole to give the Corsairs the 4-1 edge.
Suffolk had plenty of offensive opportunities in the game as they outshot the visitors, 32-29 in the game. The Rams were also victims of some poor luck as they had three shots ring off the crossbar during the contest. Eight minutes into the game freshman Jon Stauffer (Landsdale, Penn.) heard his slapshot ding off the post, while junior J.A. Wein (Barnegat, N.J.) almost struck on a Rams' power-play in the second period as his shot from the point beat Tracy but hit the pipes. Sophomore Jason Molle (Stoneham, Mass.) fell short on a scoring opportunity four minutes into the third period as his wrist shot from the circle also clanked off the goal posts.
The Corsairs penalty-killing unit killed off all five Suffolk opportunities with the extra-man in the game as well.
Goalie Jeff Rose made 25 saves in the losing effort for the Rams.
The Corsairs will travel to Westfield State on Thursday evening to take on the Owls in MASCAC league action beginning at 7:35pm. Suffolk will be back in action on Thursday evening as they travel to Salve Regina University to take on the Seahawks in ECAC Northeast action at 7:15pm.