Framingham State Surprises Fitchburg State, 5-4

Threlkeld nets a pair of tallies in Falcons MASCAC shocker

FITCHBURG, Mass. (February 10, 2011) –  Framingham State registered three, third period goals in just 2:30 seconds, edging the Fitchburg State University ice hockey team, 5-4 in MASCAC action this evening.

Sophomore Ben Pacific's (Marlborough, Mass./Tyngsboro Huskies) marker with just 29 seconds remaining in the contest proved to be the game-winner as Framingham State improved to 3-12-1 on the season (3-10-1 MASCAC). With the loss, Fitchburg State falls to 13-6-1 overall and 7-5-1 in the conference.

KRIS THRELKELD

After a slow first period, Framingham State opened the scoring early in the second stanza, using a goal from freshman Eric Ward (Haverhill, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors). Ward gave the Rams the 1-0 advantage, posting his eighth goal of the season after a flurry of shots were turned away by Falcon goaltender Bobby Leiser (Monroe, N.Y./New York Applecore).

Fitchburg State quickly evened the score just 1:33 later with a wrist shot from senior Chris Riggs (Sewell, N.J./Fort Vancouver Pioneers) for his eighth score of the season, before junior Kris Threlkeld (Centerville, Ohio/CD Selects) gave the Falcons a one goal advantage at the 7:37 mark with feeds from Riggs and senior Kevin McCready (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Mohawk CC).

In the third period, Framingham State responded immediately, knotting the score at 2-2 with a marker from junior John Vaillancourt (La Valle, Wis./Hampton Road Whalers), but Fitchburg State answered the call again, connecting with back-to-back markers for a 4-2 margin. Threlkeld sparked the Falcon rally with his second score of the contest, before sophomore Brett Provost (Ludlow, Mass./Hartford Jr. Wolfpack) sent a bouncing shot past Ram net-minder Terrence Sullivan (Shirley, Mass./Exeter Freeze) from the blue line.

Holding a two goal lead with just under three minutes to go, Fitchburg State seemingly had its eighth conference victory in hand before the Framingham State offense took over. The Rams swung the momentum in their favor with two quick goals from freshman Daniel Miressi (Monroe, Conn./Hartford Jr. Wolfpack), spanning just 1:06, and later used Pacific's game-winning tally at the 19:31 mark to seal the victory.

Both offenses battled strong with Framingham State holding a slim 36-35 shot margin. Leiser finished with 31 saves in just his third loss of the season for the Falcons, while Sullivan collected 31 stops for the Rams.

Fitchburg State (13-6-1, 7-5-1 MASCAC) will hit the ice again on Saturday as it travels to Salem State University at 2 p.m. Framingham State (3-14-1, 3-10-1 MASCAC) will host Worcester State University on Saturday at 3:15 p.m.

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Framingham State 5, Fitchburg State 4