Fitchburg State Ices Assumption, 6-1

Giansanti and Martin combine for five points in Falcons sixth victory of the season

FITCHBURG, Mass. (January 7, 2014) – Freshman forward Jake Martin (Montreal, Que.) registered a pair of markers, while senior Derek Giansanti (Newington, Conn.) added three assists as the Fitchburg State ice hockey team defeated Assumption College, 6-1 in non-conference ice hockey action this evening at the Wallace Civic Center.

Fitchburg State took the lead midway through the opening period as sophomore forward Ryan Connolly (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) collected a rebound off the stick of junior Sean Loebs (Cresskill, N.J.) and fired a shot inside the near post for his team-leading ninth score of the season for the 1-0 advantage.

The Falcons doubled their lead (2-0) at the 12:02 mark when sophomore Kevin Holmes (Newburyport, Mass.) received a pair of feeds from classmate Ryan Bedard (Derby Line, Vt.) and Giansanti and beat Greyhounds net minder Chris Hemhauser (Wilmington, Mass.) to the right side for his fourth score on the year.

In the second frame, the Green and Gold upped their margin at the 9:44 mark as freshman forward Mike Fish (Salisbury, Mass.) slid the puck in front of the net to sophomore Nat Rojas (Elkridge, Md.), who then tucked the puck inside the right post for his first tally of the season for the 3-0 lead

Assumption College broke its scoring silence two minutes later when junior Trevor Plante (Blackstone, Mass.) blasted a shot into the upper left corner of the net for his first goal of the season on assists from freshman Paul Amarone (Hamden, Conn.) and junior Brennen Shaw (Presque Isle, Maine) to cut the deficit to 3-1

Fitchburg State would regain its three goal advantage (4-1) at the 15:19 mark as Martin collected a pass from Giansanti and buried the puck inside the far post for the short-handed marker.

In the final period of play, Fitchburg State sealed the victory just 43 seconds into the stanza as Martin struck for his second goal of the contest on helpers from Giansanti and sophomore Max Lorenzen (Leesburg, Va.) to make the score 5-1 before Lorenzen capped the game's scoring at the 6:51 mark with his fourth goal of the season, resulting in the 6-1 final.

Throughout the match, Fitchburg State held a 38-31 advantage in shots, while the Greyhounds finished 0-for-4 on the power-play. In net, junior Ryan Wysocki (Grand Rapids, Mich.) stopped 30 shots for the Falcons in the complete game effort, while Hemhauser collected 21 saves for Assumption in the setback.

Fitchburg State (6-7-0, 3-3-0 MASCAC) returns to action on next Thursday as it hosts the Panthers of Plymouth State University for a contest starting at 7 p.m. Assumption (2-10-1, 0-3-1 NE-10) will host Western New England University next Tuesday at 6:05 p.m.