Mason’s road trip to the Northeast to play three games in two states against the top two teams in the Atlantic Region this past weekend got off to a rough start but ended on a high note.

The Patriots, who sat at third place in the region heading into the weekend, dropped the first two games (7-3 and 5-2) against the perennial region leader, Farmingdale State College.

But Mason delivered a decisive victory, 5-1, over Fairfield University on Sunday afternoon – the first time Mason has beaten the second-place Connecticut school.

On Friday night at Farmingdale’s home rink on Long Island, Mason showed great discipline despite losing 7-3 and didn’t yield a single power play opportunity. Farmingdale tallied 30 penalty minutes compared to Mason’s two. Cameron Smith and Collin Henley (2) scored Mason’s three goals in the second period.

Saturday night’s 5-2 loss was especially hard to swallow. Down one after the first period, Smith scored a power play goal to tie the game. Jared Lechner then delivered a one-timer over the goalie’s shoulder with less than two minutes left in the period, scoring his first goal of the season and giving Mason its first lead of the weekend.

But a series of unfortunate penalties in the third period left Mason two men down and contributed to the team’s downfall. Farmingdale tied the game on a shorthanded breakaway, then capitalized on its 5-on-3 power play to break the tie. An empty net goal sealed the deal for Farmingdale.

Goalie Nathan George gave a solid performance in the crease, making 36 saves in his first start since his shutout against Maryland in November.

Sunday’s matinee against Fairfield University in Connecticut got off to a shaky start, with Mason heading into the locker room in a one-goal hole after the first period, thanks to an early Fairfield power play goal. The momentum quickly changed directions, though, when Trevor Mack tied the game 27 seconds into the second period in what would turn out to the be the first of five unanswered goals. Smith scored a natural hat trick in less than ten minutes in the second period, and captain Tyler D’Agostino scored the lone goal in the third period to finish off Fairfield, 5-1.

Swedish study abroad student, Filip Moëcander, notched his first point at Mason with an assist on Smith’s first goal. Goalie Matthew Benjamin also came to impress in his second start in three days, recording a 0.960 save percentage as well as an assist.

One bright spot in all three games was Mason’s play in the second period. Mason dominated that period, scoring nine out of ten total goals in the middle frame, while giving up just three of thirteen goals against in that time.

Mason plays closer to home this weekend. Mason heads to Maryland to face Townson University’s D-I team on Friday night and the University of Maryland on Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, come out to the Prince William Ice Center to see your Patriots in their first home game of the semester: 4:10 PM against Salisbury University.