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Falcons Sail Past Pilgrims, 2-1
Posted: Oct 27, 2017

Falcons Sail Past Pilgrims, 2-1

Photos Box Score Preview
Scoring Summary
2nd - 02:26 - William Riise (New England Col.)
2nd - 19:09 - PP - Connor McPherson (Fitchburg St.)
3rd - 10:31 - SH - Ricky Kramer (Fitchburg St.)
Game Leaders
New England Col.
G: William Riise - 1
A: 2 Players (#14, #24) - 1
Sh: Bryce Nielsen - 7
Sv: Kyle Shapiro - 21
Fitchburg St.
G: 2 Players (#3, #19) - 1
A: 3 Players (#12, #18, #27) - 1
Sh: 9 Players (#3, #4, #7, #8, #11, #18, #19, #22, #27) - 2
Sv: Kirby Saari - 32
Team Stats
Full stats

Saari posts 32 saves for first win of the season

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University men's ice hockey team collected their first win on the 2017-18 campaign with a 2-1 victory over the Pilgrims of New England College in a non-conference match-up on Friday evening at the Wallace Civic Center.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State University 2, New England College 1
Records: Fitchburg State (1-0) | New England College (0-1)

How it Happened

After a scoreless first period, New England College scored the first marker of 2017 as Adam Zollner (Varnamo, Sweden) found fellow sophomore William Riise (Charlottenlund, Denmark) to give the Pilgrims the advantage at 2:26.

Fitchburg State would tie the game up at 1-1, when junior Connor McPherson (Clovis, Calif.) potted the Nick DiNicola (Wolcott, Conn.) pass into the back of the net from the blue line, for a power-play score.

Midway through the third period, Fitchburg State notched the game-winner when senior Corey Hayashi (Toronto, Ont.) skating around the Pilgrims net untouched, threaded a seeing eye pass to the stick of junior Ricky Kramer (Barnstead, NH) weak-side for a shorthanded tally.

Junior netminder Kirby Saari (Cape Elizabeth, Me.) made several clutch saves down the stretch, including a point-blank shot from Mike Whitehair (Victor, NY) with seconds on the clock, to preserve the win for the Falcons.

 Inside the Numbers

  • Sarri withstood the barrage of Pilgrim shots, making 32 saves for his first win of the season.
  • Senior Kyle Shapiro (Ocean Township, NJ) made 21 stops between the pipes for the visitors, but took the loss.
  • New England College outshot the Falcons (33-23), and held the advantage on face-offs winning 42-21.
  • 13th meeting between the two schools on the ice with the Falcons 3-9-1 all-time when taking on the Pilgrims
  • New England College has won five of the last seven contests against Fitchburg State, including a 4-1 win last season at NEC last season.

 Up Next

 Fitchburg State returns to action on Tuesday as it begins MASCAC play on the road at UMass Dartmouth starting at 7:30pm, while New England College plays tomorrow as it hosts Bryn Athyn at 4pm.