After coming out on top of their quarterfinal games Thursday night, #3 Westfield State and #5 MCLA are headed to the semifinals of the 2026 MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

#3 Westfield State 5, #6 Worcester State 0 

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Third-seeded Westfield State hockey got five different goal scorers including the first from senior Nicolas Coppola (Glendale, Ariz.) as the Owls thrashed sixth-seeded Worcester State 5-0 in a MASCAC Quarterfinal matchup from Amelia Park Arena on Thursday night.

With the victory, the Owls (17-7-2) advance into the conference semifinals to face second-seeded Fitchburg State on Saturday at 4:00 P.M. For the Lancers, their season comes to an end with an overall record of 10-12-4.

Westfield's depth was on display in the elimination game as the Owls fourth line delivered the first two goals of the game to stake a 2-0 advantage.

After a slow start to the first period with just two shots on goal for Westfield in the opening ten minutes, Colin Roe (Boston, Mass.) won an attacking zone draw, eventually wristing a shot towards the goal which was blocked by a Lancers defender. The puck fell to the skates of Liam Krupcyznski (San Marcos, Calif.) who controlled then flipped a backhand pass to Coppola lurking on the post where he tapped home the puck for a 1-0 lead.

The Owls delivered a back-breaking goal in the final minutes of the second period to double their lead with Coppola initiating the scoring chance this time. He gathered the puck in the defensive end, then flipped the puck up ice between a pair of Worcester defenders resulting in a collision between the two and allowing a breakaway chance for Krupcyznski. Alone with Lancers netminder Donovan Alfama, Krupcyznski stickhandled from backhand to forehand before guiding a high shot over the glove of Alfama and into the cage, sending Westfield to a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

Westfield put the game away with a quick goal out of the intermission as Jackson Gruber (Toronto, Ontario) deposited the loose puck in the crease on a shot from Emile Tremblay (Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec) to push the lead to 3-0 with 17:47 remaining in regulation.

The Lancers pulled Alfama from the net with 4:22 left in the game in search of three goals. With the Lancers in the Owls zone, Cooper Board (Salem, Mass.) pressured the point man, sweeping the puck into the neutral zone before winning a race to the puck and drawing a tripping penalty from behind with the open net. He was awarded the goal since he was alone behind the defense with an empty net.

The goal horn sounded one final time with 2:21 to go, this time with Cannon Bonifay (Fort Worth, Texas) burying the fifth goal of the night on a second effort chance off a rebound. Bonifay's goal served as the third goal potted by an Owls first-year player on the night.

Aiden Winslow (Jacksonville, Fla.) had a strong opening 20 minutes for the Owls, stopping all 14 shots on goal including a dangerous chance at the back post by Collin Tunnera with under a minute left in the period as Winslow made a post-to-post stop on a crossing feed. He continued his sound play to the final buzzer, stopping all 32 shots faced to lock up the shutout effort, his second time blanking his opponent in the last three starts in net.

Alfama made several point-blank stops on the Owls to keep it a one-goal deficit after one which included a pair of saves on shots from the low slot by Emile Tremblay and Roe in a 30 second span. Alfama made another strong stop early in the second period to temporarily keep the Lancers down a goal, sprawling to his left to save a shot from Bonifay.

Westfield committed the first penalty of the contest with 11:17 left in the second period, but did a sound job killing the penalty with Board causing havoc in the first minute of the penalty kill, generating three shots, one of which was backhanded on net to force Alfama to make a save. The Lancers settled into shape with about 50 seconds left on the power play, getting two shots on net with Winslow stopping both to keep the opposition off the scoreboard.

The Owls held a slim 34-32 shots edge in the game, but limited the Lancers to fewer shots as the game progressed, including eight in the final frame. Alfama made 29 saves for Worcester. Both teams remained discipline throughout the night with both sides committing just one penalty.

In the other MASCAC semifinal matchup, fifth-seeded MCLA defeated fourth-seeded Salem State 3-2 and will face Anna Maria in a semifinal game on Saturday. Winners from the two semifinals will advance to the conference championship game on Saturday, March 7 at the highest seed left.

#5 MCLA 3, #4 Salem State 2

SALEM, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Ice Hockey team returned to the MASCAC playoffs, looking to improve upon their conference finalist appearance of last season. The first step in that trip was a matchup with the Salem State University Vikings at the Rockett Arena this evening. Sam Zis made the Vikings pay for a moment of careless puck control in their defensive end, to send the Trailblazers into the semifinal with a 3-2 win.

THE BASICS

• Date: Thursday, February 26, 2026
• Score: #5 MCLA 3, #4 Salem 2
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 8-15-3 (MASCAC 5-8-1) | Salem State University Vikings 8-14-4 (MASCAC 6-5-3)

HIGHLIGHTS

• The teams played to a scoreless first period with Salem holding the smallest of advantage in shots with ten to the Trailblazers' nine.
• The scoring drought would only last until just past the midpoint of the second period when the Vikings broke through for the game's first score. The goal was credited to Ryan Barrett (11:02 of 2nd period, assisted by Sweet), with the helper going to Nick Sweet.
• MCLA would even the score just before the end of the second period when junior forward Easton Moore (Red Deer, AB / Florida Eels) (19:29.3, Ogborn & Perdion) redirected a slap shot from the point by junior defenseman Colin Ogborn (Linwood, NJ / Philadelphia H.C.) after freshman forward Sam Perdion (Strongsville, OH / Charlotte Rush) had sent the puck out of the corner. The goal was the sixth of the season for Moore, while the helpers were numbers four and six for Ogborn and Perdion.
• Salem would retake the lead very early in the third period, scoring less than two minutes in the new frame. This goal was unassisted and credited to Carson Whitman (1:54 of 3rd period, unassisted).
• The Trailblazers leveled the score a second time after a pair of cross-ice passes set up the scoring opportunity. Junior forward Christopher Gallagher (Albany, NY / Islanders H.C.) brought the puck into the Salem defensive end along the left wall and then sent the puck across the ice to junior forward Quinn Murphy (Champaign, IL / Philadelphia H.C.) near the right faceoff circle. Murphy then gave a quick touch pass back across the front of the goal to the stick of junior forward Cade Herrera (Brentwood, CA / Seahawks H.C) (14:55, Gallagher & Murphy). The goal extended Herrera's team-leading goal total to 12, and the assists were the 8th for Gallagher and the 11th for Murphy.
• The first lead of the night for MCLA came about three minutes later when sophomore forward Sam Zis (Boulder, CO / Connecticut Chiefs) (17:37, unassisted) took advantage of a poor bounce on the ice that forced a Viking turnover near the left faceoff circle, and the sophomore spun a shot into the upper left corner of the net.
• The Trailblazers' freshman goalie Roco Stolz (Bloomfield Hills, MI / Charlotte Rush) stopped 28 of 30 shots to secure the win, advancing his record to 8-12-2. Will Nepveu took the loss for Salem, recording 23 saves on 26 shots and falling to 7-11-4.

UP NEXT

On Saturday, MCLA will continue their playoff run when they travel to the Horgan Arena and Anna Maria College for a semifinal matchup with the AMCATs. The puck will drop at 6:40 p.m.

Releases courtesy of Westfield State and MCLA Sports Information