Eastern Connecticut Triumphs Despite Melaugh's Five Goals

Salem, Mass. -- Salem State's Ben Melaugh (Billerica, MA) scored five goals and added an assist, but Tim Reilly (Hanover, MA) tallied five points with four goals and one assist for Eastern Connecticut as the Warriors trumped the Vikings 14-9 Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field. The Warriors improve to 6-4 on the year and 2-0 in the Little East Conference. Salem State falls to 5-6 and 0-2 in the LEC

The Vikings got on the scoreboard first as Alex Pearsons (Burlington, MA) and Melaugh connected in the first two minutes of play. Eastern Connecticut answered immediately with a goal from Michael Dellanno (Wakefield, MA) and Dan Vasquez (Newington, CT) to take a 2-1 lead. Melaugh and Pearsons connected again to knot the game at 2-2, but that would be quickly erased as Liam Murphy (Dover, NH) and Vasquez regained a 4-2 edge for East Connecticut. In the second period, the Warriors took a 5-2 advantage in the opening minutes when Vasquez completed the hat-trick. For the third time, in just one half, Pearsons found Melaugh again at the perimeter for an easy goal to cut the deficit to 5-3. However, Eastern Connecticut tallied three goals in a row to take an 8-3 edge including two goals from Tim Reilly (Hanover, MA) who was assisted by Shawn Tierney (Norwell, MA) on both scores. Nick Fernandes (Fairfield, CT) scored the eighth goal for the Warriors with an assist from Giuseppe Parisi (Danbury, CT). Just before the end of the half, Bobby Bourgeois (Billerica, MA) found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 8-4.

Melaugh and Pearsons continued their dominance in the offensive end in the second half as Melaugh
brought the score to 8-5 with a goal. Fernandes tallied his second goal of the game to regain a four-goal lead at 9-5, but that would be canceled out by another Pearsons' goal to bring the game to 9-6. Right before the end of the third, David Borovsky (Burlington, CT) added another score to put Eastern Connecticut ahead 10-6. In the opening moments of the final period, Pearsons notched his second goal of the game to bring the Vikings to within three before Thomas Lyons (Burlington, MA) netted his first goal of the game for Salem State that cut the deficit to 10-8. The Vikings, however, lost momentum

in the fourth as they allowed four consecutive goals from the Warriors to fall behind 14-8. During that stretch, Reilly scored twice while Murphy and Borovsky added one apiece. The Vikings got one back as Melaugh scored his fifth goal of the contest to bring the final score to 14-9.

Blake Smaldone (Hamilton, MA) finished with 14 saves while Kevin Lally (Beverly, MA) stopped 11 shots for Salem State. Pearsons led all players with an impressive six points including four assists and two goals. For the Warriors, Vasquez ended the day with five points on three goals and two assists while Reilly had four goals and an assist.

Salem State continues conference play when they host the Panthers of Plymouth State University on April 16th at 5:00 p.m. The Warriors will also continue LEC play when they take on the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth on April 16th at 1:00 p.m.