Salem State Clips Fitchburg State, 5-3

Wolcott makes 44 saves in Falcons MASCAC setback

FITCHBURG, Mass. (November 15, 2012) – Salem State rallied from three goals down to edge Fitchburg State, 5-3 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) ice hockey action at the Wallace Civic Center this evening.

In the opening stanza, Fitchburg State started the scoring in the 7th minute of action as sophomore Curtis Nikitas (Leominster, Mass./Saint Bernards) registered his first marker of the season. The sophomore forward raced up the end boards and slipped the puck inside the near post for the 1-0 margin.

The Falcons quickly upped their lead (3-0) when freshman Max Lorenzen (Leesburg, Va./Valley Jr, Warriors) connected on his team-leading fifth tally of the season off assists from seniors Trevor Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass./New England Jr. Huskies) and Joseph Caveney (Fitchburg,Mass./New England Jr. Huskies) at the 9:05 mark before freshman Timmy Genova (Smithtown,N.Y./New York Applecore) recorded his first collegiate score less than 40 seconds later.

Salem State cut the deficit (3-1) with two minute remaining in the frame as Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, R.I./Philadelphia Revolution) tallied his first collegiate goal to send the game into the first intermission.

In the second period, the Vikings connected for three consecutive goals to take their first lead of the contest. Bettencourt opened the scoring just 1:25 into the period on feeds from sophomore Kristofer Faric (Whitby, ON./Castleton State) and junior Eric Defelice (Chalfont, PA./Manhattanville). Following sophomore Chad Goodwin's (Whitinsville, Mass./Salve Regina) first goal of the season, freshman Cam Moniz (Seekonk, Mass./Walpole Express) connected for a power-play goal late in the stanza for the eventually game-winning tally.

In the final frame, Salem State secured its second victory of the season, as freshman Andrew Bucci (Peabody, Mass./Boston Bulldogs) found the back of the net with just under 30 second left in regulation, resulting in the 5-3 final.

In net, junior Randy Wolcott (East Haven, Conn./Wisconsin-Stevens Point) recorded 44 stops for the Falcons in the setback, while junior Ryan Sutliffe (Las Vegas, NV./Helena Big Horns) totaled 25 saves for the visitors in the complete game effort. Throughout the match, Salem State out shot Fitchburg State 49-28, while the Falcons finished 1-for-5 on the power-play.

Fitchburg State (1-3-1, 1-1-0 MASCAC) will be in action on Saturday as it travels to Worcester State University at 4:30 p.m. Salem State (2-1-0, 1-0-0 MASCAC) will host UMass Dartmouth on Saturday at 2 p.m.