Falcons Withstand Rams As Fuller Coached His 1000th Career Game

Framingham, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team defeated the Rams of Framingham State, 4-3 this evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action from the Loring Arena as Falcons head coach Dean Fuller coached in his 1000th career game. Fuller now has accrued a career record of 585-351-64.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 4, Framingham State 3 

Records: Fitchburg State (7-6-2, 5-2-2 MASCAC) I Framingham State (3-9-1, 2-6-1 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State opened the scoring at the 10:32 mark as sophomore Oliver Cookson (Sheffield, Mass.) redirected a shot off the stick of senior Wyatt Wilmshurst (Massena, N.Y.) and into the back of the net for his second goal on the year for the 1-0 edge.

In the middle frame, Framingham State knotted the score at 1-1 midway through the stanza when sophomore Cam Lindsay (Coatesville, Penn.) received a feed from freshman Sam Larkin (Douglas, Mass.) and classmate Bobby Bernier (Allen, Tex.) for his third tally on the year.

The Rams grabbed a 2-1 edge at the 13:36 mark with sophomore Ashton Collazo (Victor, N.Y.) depositing a shot inside the near post for his fourth score of the 2022-23 campaign with assists from sophomores Dylan Marty (New Richmond, Wis.) and Walker Smith (Inver Grove, Minn.).

The visitors  etied the contest at 2-2 one minute later when graduate student Antoine Gignac (Quebec City, Que.) blasted a shot from the left circle into the upper left corner for his third goal on the season with an assist from senior Joshua Miller (Saint Augustine, Fla.). The Green and Gold regained the lead with just over two minutes remaining in the period as Cookson gathered a pass from Miller and connected for his second tally of the contest to make the score 3-2.

In the third period of play, Fitchburg State upped the margin to 4-2 at the 16:16 mark when sophomore Corey Tumenas (Leominster, Mass.) intercepted the puck and slide a pass over to an over Gene Bouthiette (Enfield, Conn.), who converted a breakaway attempt for his first marker on the season.

Framingham State answered back late in the contest with sophomore Eli Slaughter (Willmar, Minn.) wristed a shot into the right side of the net for his second score of the year, but that's as close as the hosts would get as the Falcons held on for the 4-3 triumph.

With his 1000th career game at the helm, Fuller became just the second head ice hockey coach in NCAA Division III history to reach 1000 career games coached and just the 20th head ice hockey coach across all divisions.

By the Numbers

• Falcons head coach Dean Fuller coached in his 1000th career game this evening
• 71st meeting between the Falcons and the Rams on the ice with Fitchburg State 56-9-6 all-time when taking on Framingham State
• Fitchburg State held a 37-27 edge in shots
• Framingham State went 0-for-3 with the man advantage
• Freshman Max Macchioni (North Kingstown, R.I.) stopped 24 shots for the Falcons
• Senior Blake Carlson (Clermont, Fla.) made 33 saves for the Rams

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Saturday as they hosts the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth in MASCAC action, starting at 4:00 PM.