Plymouth State Clips Fitchburg State, 6-3

Celli, Holmes and Connolly register one goal each for the Falcons

PLYMOUTH, N.H. (November 14, 2013) – Junior forward Zach Sarig (Reading, Penn.) posted three points on one goal and two assists as the Plymouth State ice hockey team defeated Fitchburg State, 6-3 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Hanaway Rink.

Fitchburg State opened the scoring at the 2:19 mark of the first period as sophomore forward John Celli (Leominster, Mass.) fired a shot into the back of the net for the power play tally off assists from junior Craig Halpin (Irvington, N.Y.) and sophomore Ryan Connolly (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.).

The Panthers quickly knotted the score (1-1) four minutes later when sophomore Andrew Wigg (Lantz, N.S.) collected a rebound off the stick of junior Zach Sarig (Reading, Penn.) and slipped the puck inside the near post for his first score of the season.

Plymouth grabbed the lead at the 14:53 mark as freshman Ian McGilvrey (Omaha, Neb.) fired a shot into the upper left corner of the net for his third score of the season. Sarig and classmate Mike Freitag (Westmont, Ill.) assisted on the play to put the hosts up 2-1 after one period of play.

In the middle frame, the Falcons retied the contest midway through the stanza when Connolly blasted a shot from the point inside the far post for his fourth goal of the year, using feeds from sophomore Ryan Bedard (Derby Line, Vt.) and junior Sean Loebs (Cresskill, N.J.) to make the score 2-2 going into the second intermission.

In the final period of play, the Panthers regained the lead just 29 seconds into the frame as Sarig blasted a shot from the top of the key for his team-leading sixth tally of the season on assists from sophomore Zach Fox (Sandown, N.H.) and senior Dave Walters (Ottawa, Ont.) for the 3-2 lead.

Plymouth State upped its lead 20 seconds later on Freitag's first score of the season before freshman forward Baxter Strachan (Sioux City, Iowa) collected his first collegiate marker to put the Panthers up 5-2 at the 12:18 mark.

The Green and Gold cut the deficit to 5-3 two minutes later as sophomore Kevin Holmes (Newburyport, Mass.) fired a shot into the net off an assist from classmate Paul Falanga (East Haven, Conn.) before Wigg iced the game for the Panther with an empty netter with just over one minute remaining in the contest, resulting in the 6-3 final.

Throughout the match, Plymouth State held a 36-29 advantage in shots, while the Falcons finished 1-for-4 on the power play. In net, junior Dan Finn (Fitchburg, Mass.) stopped 30 shots for Fitchburg State in the setback, while senior Tyler Ingerson (Concord, N.H.) made 26 saves for the Panthers en-route to his second victory of the season.

Fitchburg State (2-3-0, 0-1-0 MASCAC) returns to action on Saturday as it hosts the Lancers of Worcester State University at 7 p.m. Plymouth State (2-3-0, 1-1-0 MASCAC) will visit UMass Dartmouth on Saturday for a contest starting at 4:40 p.m.