Ice Hockey Doubles Up Corsairs In Conference Tilt

Soderberg stops 30 shots for Green and Gold

Fitchburg, Mass. The Fitchburg State ice hockey team defeated the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth, 4-2 this afternoon in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action from the Wallace Civic Center as the Fitchburg State Ice Hockey team hosted its third annual Jake Thibeault Benefit Game.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 4, UMass Dartmouth 2

Records: Fitchburg State (11-7-2 10-4-2 MASCAC) I UMass Dartmouth (12-8-0, 10-6-0)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State opened the scoring at the 17:29 mark of the first period when freshman Kristopher Zapata (Cherry Hill, NJ) gathered a feed from classmates Hunter Dunn (Douglas, MA) and Jackson Collins (Wake Forest, NC) and ripped a shot into the right side of the net for his sixth tally on the year for the 1-0 edge.

The Falcons doubled the advantage at the 5:06 mark of the middle stanza as graduate student Antoine Gignac (Quebec City, QUE) blasted a shot into the lower right corner for his third goal of the season.

UMass Dartmouth cut the deficit to 2-1 midway through the frame with senior Cade Hanley (Bozeman, MT) setting a pass from sophomore Brandon Clark (Rochester, NY) and freshman Connor Little (Portsmouth, RI) and proceeded to fire a shot into the right side of the net for his first marker of the 2023-24 campaign to make the score 2-1. The Green and Gold upped the margin to 3-1 with just over six minute remaining the period when junior Samuel Rennick (Salisbury, MA) found the back of the net for his fifth score on the season with assists from freshman Michael Imala (Oak Lawn, IL) and sophomore Nolan Sargent (Littleton, CO).

Fitchburg State pushed the lead to 4-1 at the 12:11 mark of the final period of play when sophomore Jeremy Maillet (Leominster, MA) gathered a feed from junior Jack Johansen (Milford, NH) and deposited a shot inside the near post for his third tally of the year. The Corsairs answered back two minutes later graduate student Stephon Perreault (Greenwood Village, CO), resulting in the 4-3 final.

By the Numbers

• 90th meeting between the Falcons and the Corsairs on the ice with Fitchburg State 37-44-9 all-time when taking on UMass Dartmouth
• UMass Dartmouth held a 32-25 edge in shots
• Falcons finished 1-for-4 with the man advantage
• Freshman Frederick Soderberg (Harrison Township, MI) stopped 30 shots for the Falcons
• Sophomore Marshall McKallup (Pittsburgh, PA) made 21 saves for the Corsairs

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Thursday when they travel to Plymouth State to take on the Panthers for a MASCAC tilt, starting at 6:00PM.

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