Fitchburg State Defeated By Worcester State, 5-2

Byrnes and Kramer net one goal each for Falcons in MASCAC setback

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team dropped a tough 5-2 decision to the Lancers of Worcester State in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at the Hart Recreation Center on the campus of Holy Cross this evening.

Worcester State opened the scoring at the 12:31 mark of the first period as freshman Ryan Flynn collected a feed from senior Jim LeNoir and newcomer Nick Patullo and fired a shot into the back of the net for his second tally on the year for the 1-0 advanta

The Lancers doubled their margin (2-0) roughly four and a half minutes later when sophomore Mitchell Purdie struck for his fifth goal of the season. Worcester State upped its lead with just over 40 seconds left in the period as junior Kyle Griffin received a pass from newcomer Connor McKenzie and wristed a shot into the left side of the net for his fifth marker of the year to make the score 3-0 after one period of play.

In the middle frame, Fitchburg State broke its scoring silence at the 7:11 mark when junior Evan Byrnes blasted a shot inside the far post for his first tally on the season off assists from senior Mike Fish and sophomore Michael Fretz to cut the lead to 3-1.

The hosts answered back one minute later as sophomore Andrew Etheridge took a pass from freshman Khalil East and proceeded to slip a shot into the back of the net for his third score of the year for the 4-1 advantage going into the final period of play.

In the third stanza, Worcester State extended its lead (5-1) on LeNoir's first goal of the season just 51 seconds into the period before the Green and Gold responded at the 2:21 mark as sophomore Ricky Kramer buried a shot into the left side of the net for his third tally on the 2016-17 campaign, resulting in the 5-2 final.

Throughout the contest, Worcester State held a 33-29 advantage in shots, while Fitchburg State finished 2-for-10 on the power-play. In between the pipes, sophomores Charles Jakobsson and Quinn Wold combined for 28 saves for the Falcons, while freshman Josh Reinstein stopped 27 shots for the Lancers in the complete game effort.= 

Fitchburg State (7-7-1, 4-4-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Thursday as it travels to Salem State University to take on the Vikings at 7 p.m. Worcester State (5-7-3, 3-4-2 MASCAC) will visit Westfield State on Thursday for a contest starting at 7:35 p.m.