Salem State Holds Off Fitchburg State, 5-3

Holmes collects two points; Wysocki registers 36 saves for the Falcons

FITCHBURG, Mass. (December 5, 2013) – The Salem State ice hockey defeated Fitchburg State, 5-3 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) ice hockey action this evening at the Wallace Civic Center.

Fitchburg State opened the scoring at the 4:05 mark of the first period as sophomore forward Paul Falanga (East Haven, Conn.) collected a rebound off the stick of junior Thomas Carlow (Franklin, Mass.) and wristed a shot into the upper left corner for his second score of the season for the 1-0 lead.

The Vikings tied the score (1-1) with just under six minutes remaining in the frame when freshman Brad Jones (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) received a feed from sophomore Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, R.I,) and fired a shot from the left point inside the lower left post for his first collegiate tally.

In the middle frame, Salem State took the lead just 1:31 into the stanza as freshman forward Alex Minter (Peabody, Mass.) struck for his team-leading sixth marker of the season on assists from classmate John Needham (Medford, Mass.) and junior Sutton Wilson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) to make the score 2-1.

The Falcons responded at the 6:54 mark when sophomore Timmy Genova (Smithtown, N.Y.) collected the puck in front of the net and blasted a shot into the upper right corner for his first goal of the season as classmate Kevin Holmes (Newburyport, Mass.) and freshman Connor Bowman (Kansas City, MO.) assisted on the play to knot the score 2-2 going into the final period of play.

In the third period of play, Salem State regained the lead for good at the 1:46 mark as junior Kristopher Faric (Whitby, Ont.) connected for his third score of the season on an unassisted tally for the 3-2 margin.

The visitors upped their lead with just over four minutes remaining in regulation when senior Eric Defelice (Chalfont, Penn.) slipped the puck inside the near post for his fourth goal of the season for the 4-2 advantage. Needham and junior Ian Canty (South Windsor, Conn.) assisted on the play.

The Green and Gold cut the deficit to just one (4-3) at the 18:48 mark as Holmes collected a pass from junior Sean Loebs (Cresskill, N.J.) and tucked the puck inside the near post for his third tally on the season before the Vikings capped the game's scoring 45 seconds later on an empty netter from freshman Tanner Fahlstedt (Centennial, Colo.), resulting in the 5-3 final.

Throughout the contest, Salem State held a 41-26 margin in shots, while the Falcons finished 1-for-3 on the power-play. Between the pipes, junior Ryan Wysocki (Grand Rapids, Mich.) posted 36 saves in 58:43 minutes of action for Fitchburg State, while senior Ryan Sutliffe (Las Vegas, Nv.) made 23 stops in the complete game effort for the Vikings.

Fitchburg State (4-7-0, 2-3-0 MASCAC) will be in action on Saturday as it travels to UMass Dartmouth at 4:30 p.m. Salem State (5-3-0, 3-2-0 MASCAC) will host Worcester State on Saturday at 2 p.m.