Worcester State Withstands Fitchburg State, 5-3

Rojas, Snyder and Celli collect one goal each for Falcons

AUBURN, Mass. (January 18, 2014) – Freshman forward Alex Dewitz (Oronoco, Minn.) tallied his first hat-trick of the season as Worcester State defeated Fitchburg State, 5-3 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) ice hockey action this evening at Horgan Memorial Rink.

Worcester State opened the scoring at the mark 19:31 mark of the first period as junior forward Andrew Bates (Marblehead, Mass.) collected a feed from classmate Vinny Bohn (Spring Hill, Fla.) and senior Derek Serbon (Crown Point, Ind.) and fired a shot into the back of the net for his fifth score of the season for the 1-0 margin after one period of play.

In the middle frame, Fitchburg State quickly knotted the score (1-1) just 1:06 into the frame when sophomore forward Nat Rojas (Elkridge, Md.) buried a shot inside the far post for his second goal of the season on an assist from classmate Timmy Genova (Smithtown, N.Y.).

The Lancers regained the lead with just over two and minutes remaining in the stanza as freshman forward Richard Bohan (Phoenix, Ariz.) connected for his first collegiate marker, using feeds from classmate Crissostomos Villarreal (Corona, Calif.) and sophomore Chris White (Wonder Lake, Ill.) for the 2-1 advantage going into the second intermission.

In the final period of play, the Falcons responded at the 4:02 mark when freshman Cameron Snyder (Shawnee, Kan.) blasted a shot into the lower right side of the net for his second score on the season to knot the score 2-2. Sophomore Ryan Bedard (Derby Line, Vt.) and freshman Mike Fish (Salisbury, Mass.) assisted on the play.

The Green and Gold gained its first lead of the contest three minutes later as sophomore John Celli (Leominster, Mass.) converted on the power play. The sophomore forward received a pass from junior Craig Halpin (Irvington, N.Y.) and slipped the puck past Worcester State goaltender Salvatore Tecci (Franklin, Mass.) for the 3-2 lead.

Worcester State answered at the 9:14 mark when senior Curtis Martin (Okotoks, Alberta) slid a pass over to Dewitz on the left circle and wristed a shot inside the right post for his third goal of the season to tie the contest at 3-3.

Dewitz put the hosts back on top for good two minutes later as he received a pass from junior Rich Ledy (Marquette, Mich.) off the boards and slipped the puck into the net for his second marker of the game, before completing the hat-trick with just seconds left on the clock with an empty-netter, resulting in the 5-3 final.

For the contest, Worcester State held a 39-32 margin in shots, while the Falcons finished 1-for-5 with the man advantage. In net, junior Ryan Wysocki (Grand Rapids, Mich.) finished with 34 saves for the Fitchburg State in the setback, while Tecci stopped 29 shots for the Lancers in the complete game effort.

Fitchburg State (6-9-0, 3-5-0 MASCAC) returns to action on Thursday as it hosts the Owls of Westfield State University for a contest starting at 7 p.m. Worcester State (6-6-1, 2-5-1 MASCAC) will visit Becker College on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m.