Rivier's Michael Caparco gets spilled against Westfield's Xavier Tremblay (16) and Kelly Coldwater (5) during Saturday night's game at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – The egg nogg could have tasted a lot better for the Rivier University men’s hockey team the next few weeks.

They were leading Westfield State 3-2 heading into the third period at Conway Arena Saturday night, but the Owls erupted for three goals in the final 20 minutes to send the Raiders into the holiday break at 1-9-1 after a tough 5-3 loss.

“We knew they were gonna have a surge,” said Rivier coach Shaun Millerick, his team now 1-3 in the MASCAC. “Obviously we took a penalty early, they tied it up, and we were never able to find our footing in the third period.”

The Owls (6-4-0, 4-1-0) got two power play goals in the period by Raphael Seguin, the first tying it up at 2:38, and the last providing some insurance at 11:04, just 34 seconds left in a five-minute major.

“We thought we might be able to generate something,” Millerick said, “and they score late, the very end of that major.”

In between Seguin’s two goals, Daniel Finegan gave Westfield State the lead for good with a shot just under the crossbar at 4:27, two minutes after the tying goal was scored.

“We talked about it obviously in the locker room, being down, some guys had to step up, some of our seniors,” Owls coach Bob Miele said. “And they actually did, three goals were by defensemen.”

“You’ve got to give them credit, they were good shots,” Millerick said. “I thought our penalty kill was really good all night. They were just shots from the perimeter that were under the bar.”

And speaking of the bar, the Raiders are hoping to raise it once they get more experience. It’s been tough sledding the last two months.

“We have a young group, obviously,” Millerick said. “We’re still learning how to win, for sure. We get a lead going into the third period in our own building, we’d like to be able to get out of there with a win before the break. But I still have a lot of confidence in the group.”

The group helped the Raiders get their 3-2 advantage. After a scoreless 20 minutes, Mason Rudrud led Rivier with two goals, as he opened the scoring with a blast from the point 3:53 into the second period, assisted by Aaron Siwicki and Michael Caparco, the latter having three assists on the night. Rudrud’s second gave the Raiders the lead at 19:39 of the second, 3-2.

Westfield had grabbed a 2-1 lead with a pair just nearly two minutes apart, the tying goal by Jesper Seeberg and the go-ahead by Xavier Tremblay at 10:55. But the Raiders even things at 2 when Payton Kender beat Owls netminder Aiden Winslow (15 saves) at 12:01 of the second, assisted by Caparco and Sawicki.

But one stat is glaring: While Winslow faced only some pressure at times, Raiders goalie Josh Kirton had to work hard, getting 46 saves. When Raider Tucker Tone drew that major at 6:58 of the third, that hamstrung a struggling Rivier offense even more.

“We’re going to be able to learn from some of these tough losses and hopefully build on that in the second half,” Millerick said. “The battle and the compete has always been there.

“I still think there’s some progress we’ve made the last week or so. We just have to go to break, get healthy, and hopefully play some better hockey on the other side.”