SALEM — Despite falling behind early, the Salem State hockey team bounced back to win its season opener, 3-2 over UMass Dartmouth last night at the Rockett Arena.

All five goals were scored by special teams play in a battle between the two teams that were picked to finish atop the MASCAC standings this season.

The Vikings, who got the most points in that coaches' poll, found themselves in a hole early after two power play scores by the visitors.

The first came on a two-man advantage at 7:45 of the first period when Salem State had killed off all but three seconds on its first penalty. Jason Stahl was set up by Newburyport's Joe Hill and Justin Pye of Medford, giving UMass Dartmouth an early advantage.

Just under three minutes later, the visiting Corsairs took a 2-0 lead when Vikings goalie James LaCour (34 saves) stopped Graeme Bourne's man advantage slapshot. But the rebound came out front to Todd Bartelson, who slammed it home.

"We got off to a slow start tonight," said Vikings coach Bill O'Neill. "We have some new guys out there, and there were some anxious moments. We were fortunate to get out of there alive; we took some untimely penalties. I'm just happy we could come back to win our opener and get off on the right foot."

UMass Dartmouth already had two games under its belt, with wins over Becker and Suffolk University. Thus, they had a decided edge in the first period.

But the Vikings came alive when senior captain Damen Nisula stole the puck at the Corsair blue line and beat goalie Jon Dryjowicz-Burek (38 saves) on his stick side at 14:37 of the opening frame to cut the deficit in half.

"Nisula got our comeback started with that goal," said O'Neill. "He made a nice play."

The Vikings continued to keep up the pressure in the middle frame, peppering Dryjowicz-Burek with shots. They tied it up on a power play goal by sophomore Ryan Pezzulo of Newbury, assisted by Chad Johnson (Lynn) at the 3:34 mark.

They continued to press for the go-ahead goal, and with two UMass players in the box it finally paid off. Pezzulo uncorked a slapshot that Dryjowicz-Burek managed to get a piece of, but the puck was loose in the crease for Michael Genovese, who found the back of the net. Nick Lampson also picked up an assist on the play.

"Pezzulo kept telling me last year that he was a better defenseman, and I guess he was right," said O'Neill. "I was playing him at forward at the time, but moved him back this year. He looked good on the power play. That goal tonight was his first, then he set up the game-winner.

"I thought our power play worked well all game. We were able to pick it up in the second period and hang on to win a close game."

The Vikings took only one penalty in that middle period while UMass went to the box four times. In the third period, the hosts kept the pressure on but couldn't dent the scoreboard. Alexander Molnar had two or three good bids for the Vikings and both Johnson and Jeff Tellier hit the post.

LaCour also came up big at the other end. Aaron Blades, former Salem State player, was robbed by LaCour on a great glove save early in the period. Later, the Corsairs' Billy Carroll tried to jam in a rebound, but LaCour smothered the puck.

The Corsairs pulled their goalie with just over a minute remaining and swarmed around the Salem net trying to tie it up, but Nisula blocked a shot, and then in the final seconds Genovese blocked Giancarlo Capodanno's slapper in the final seconds to seal the win.

"A true special teams battle this one was," said UMass Dartmouth coach John Rolli, a Salem State graduate (Class of 1973). "That shorthanded goal was the difference.

"Salem is a very good team; there's a reason why they were picked to win the league. We play each other three times, so we've got two more cracks at them. They were a step ahead of us on races for loose pucks."