By Izabela Gage
Asst. Sports Editor
The men’s ice hockey team fell to the Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Penmen 3-2 in their non-conference season opener Nov. 2. Their overall record to start the season is 0-1.
The Rams currently rank sixth in the MASCAC after placing ninth out of 10 in the MASCAC preseason poll Oct. 24.
Head Coach Michael Bailey said, “I respect the other coaches in the MASCAC's opinion. With that being said - I think we are going to surprise a lot of teams.”
Defender and Assistant Captain Jake Barcelou, a junior, said the team is feeling overlooked. “We are going to do everything we can to prove people wrong. We know we are very capable of being a top team in the conference.”
He added the team has been working really hard on the ice and in the gym to prepare for this 2024-25 season.
Goaltender Liam Kilgallen, a junior, said all three Ram goaltenders have been working hard each practice and have “mainly focused on just giving our team a chance to win every game.”
SNHU started the action with forward Brendan Lynch taking an early shot one minute into the game, which was saved by Kilgallen.
A high-sticking penalty on the Penmen set up a power-play for Framingham at 2:21, but the advantage was quickly shut down by a 5-minute major penalty on forward Brady Rossbach, a sophomore, for hitting from behind.
SNHU maintained possession of the puck for almost the entirety of the power play. Kilgallen tallied 8 saves before the penalty time was completed.
Forward Johnny Baker, a senior, returned to 5-on-5 play with a shot on goal, which was saved by SNHU goaltender Colin Berke.
Assistant Captain Kaleb Kinskey, a graduate student, was put into the penalty box for interference, putting the Penmen back on the power play.
Kilgallen made another two nail-biting saves before defender Brent Scott, a sophomore, and SNHU’s Ryan Clear were both put in the box for cross-checking. This started a 4-on-3 penalty kill for the Rams.
Only 20 seconds later, Kinskey was back on the ice, evening the teams to 4-on-4.
A little over a minute later, forward Scott Bugarin, a sophomore, found an opening on goal, but was unable to net the puck.
Scott and Clear finished their penalty times as Framingham gained possession of the puck with forward Nathan Gines, a sophomore, hoping to net the first goal of the game, but Berke shut down the attempt.
The Penmen took the puck back into the Rams’ defensive zone and hoped to get the puck into the goal crease, but Kilgallen tallied another save.
Gines dropped the puck back to defender Walker Smith, a senior, who was hovering near the edge of the Penmen’s defensive zone, and he took a shot on goal. Berke deflected the puck and Assistant Captain Devante Dixon, a senior, went in for the rebound but to no avail.
SNHU had another two opportunities to score, but Kilgallen stopped both.
A minute later, Gines was given 2 minutes in the penalty box for tripping, putting the Penmen back on a power play.
Sixteen seconds later, Clear got past Kilgallen’s defense and netted SNHU’s first goal right before the end of the first period.
SNHU opened the second period with two shots on goal. Kilgallen stopped both before they could get past the goal line.
Bugarin handled the puck and brought it back into the Penmen’s defensive zone, aiming to put the Rams’ first point on the board.
The Rams tallied three more shots on goal before Barcelou tied the game at 1-1, scoring at 4:18, assisted by forward Charles DiMartino, a freshman. Putting a goal on the board created momentum for the Rams, as they took four shots on goal in four minutes, overpowering the Penmen’s one. Forward Sam Larkin, a junior, did not let up on offense and took three back-to-back shots on goal in less than two minutes, but Berke stopped all opportunities. Defender Cameron Craig, a sophomore, was called for interference and was into the penalty box for a minor 2-minute penalty. This put SNHU back on the power play. The Penmen were deterred by the Rams’ defense and could only find two openings on the net, which Kilgallen stopped with ease. After the power play, SNHU still had possession of the puck and took another two shots on goal that were stopped by Kilgallen. The Penmen won the faceoff in the Rams’ defensive zone at 16:20 and quickly shot the puck toward the net, catching Kilgallen off guard, finding the back of the goal for their second goal of the game. DiMartino tried to net another goal for the Rams and went back for the rebound shot, but it was unfortunately blocked by Berke. Framingham kept possession of the puck, with Scott taking one last shot on goal, but it was unable to get past the goal line. With 4 seconds left in the second period, SNHU’s Jack Gray was put into the penalty box for holding. The Rams started the third period on the power play, with Captain Ashton Collazo, a senior, searching for an opening on the net, but he did not succeed. Framingham did not let up, tallying six more shots on goal, all saved by Berke. Collazo came back with more force and netted the Rams’ second goal of the game at 3:28. The Penmen held up on defense, with the Rams remaining steady and tallying five more shots on goal before the puck was out of their possession. SNHU took a shot on goal, but Kilgallen did not let it slip past his pads. Nineteen seconds later, the Penmen won the faceoff in the Rams’ defensive zone, and 17 seconds later, scored their final goal of the game, bringing the score to 3-2. Penalty minutes started racking up for the remaining 10 minutes of the game, beginning with SNHU’s Derek Flynn for boarding. Not even a minute later, forward Caleb Dusek, a senior, and SNHU’s Ryan Houle earned two minutes each for roughing. The penalty minutes finished up for the three of them, but with 4 minutes left in the game, Collazo received a major penalty for elbowing and got put in the box for 5 minutes. Kilgallen ended the game strong, stopping the last shot on goal from SNHU before the final buzzer sounded through the rink. Bailey said the number of penalty minutes the Rams had to kill played a major role in the outcome of the game. “We had to waste so much energy killing penalties all night. When we were 5-on-5 or better, we were gassed.” Collazo said, “At the end of the day, when I look around our room - we know what we have and we know where we stack up. “I think if we shore up our defensive zone and be more disciplined, we will be difficult to beat,” he added. Barcelou said, “We know that when we are playing our best - we are going to be a hard team to beat.” Despite only scoring two goals, the Rams outshot the Penmen 36 to 31. During the loss, Framingham won 34 of the faceoffs, beating SNHU’s 33. The Penmen used one power play to their advantage of the six they received, converting one for a goal - overpowering the Rams, who converted zero of three power plays. Bailey said the captains have helped make the team “a really great unit” and have “done a fine job at preparing everyone for a successful season. “It's a long season and the key is to learn from our mistakes and try to improve each and every day.” Kilgallen said it felt great to be back on the ice. “It wasn’t the outcome our team wanted but it’s something we can learn from and build off of for sure.” Barcelou said the main thing the team is hoping to do is spend less time in the penalty box. “Coach Bailey emphasizes playing disciplined hockey and we will look to do that in our upcoming games.” Collazo said, “Despite being on the penalty kill for the majority [of the game], we were still able to outshoot and outplay SNHU.” Bailey said, “The team came out with a ton of energy and stayed in the game to the final buzzer - never quitting.” The Rams take a road trip to the State University of New York at Canton and are back on the ice for two games against the SUNY Canton Kangaroos Nov. 8 and Nov. 9. Barcelou said the Rams are looking forward to traveling to the away games. “It will be two very hard-fought games and we know we have to improve certain areas of our game to get a different result than we did [in this game].” Bailey said the team is “staying positive and enjoying the moment as we are pumped to be given this opportunity to have an overnight road trip.”