#5 Fitchburg State Upends #4 UMass Dartmouth, 3-2

Falcons advance to ECAC NE semifinals with victory

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (February 28, 2009) - The Fitchburg State men's ice hockey team stunned defending champion UMass Dartmouth as it registered a 3-2 victory this evening in ECAC Northeast quarterfinal action.

Fitchburg State (13-8-5) registered its fifth consecutive victory with the win and now awaits its seeding for the ECAC Northeast semifinals on Wednesday, March 4th. UMass Dartmouth concludes its season with an overall record of 16-8-2. 

Freshman forward Giancarlo Capodanno (Mountainside, NJ/New Jersey Rockets) scored the only goal of the third period, unassisted at 2:38 to cut the Falcons' lead to 3-2. But Vorse held the Corsairs off the rest of the way, with UMass Dartmouth narrowly missing tying the game in the waning seconds after junior goaltender Jon Dryjowicz-Burek (Ludlow, MA/Springfield Jr. Falcons) had been removed for an extra attacker.

The Falcons scored twice in the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Sophomore forward Chris Riggs (Sewell, NJ/Ft. Vancouver Pioneers) gave FSC a 2-1 lead when he re-directed home a pass from junior forward Andrew Hutton (Brewster, MA/Boston Harborwolves) at 3:57 with the Falcons enjoying a man advantage. Senior forward Bobby Kaloustian (Marlborough, MA/Suffolk) also assisted. Kaloustian made it 3-1 with another power play goal at 14:05, taking a pass from Hutton just after a penalty to Hutton expired, and going in alone to score.

Junior forward Aaron Blades (Chino, CA/Cushing Academy) put the Corsairs on the scoreboard first with a power play goal at 11:16 of the first period, batting a rebound of a shot by freshman forward Giancarlo Capodanno (Mountainside, NJ/New Jersey Rockets) past Vorse. Sophomore forward Joe Hill (Newburyport, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors) also assisted.

Senior defenseman Aaron Tiernan (Anchorage, AK/Central TX Marshals) tied it 45 seconds before the end of the first period when he rifled a slap shot from the left circle past Dryjowicz-Burek (Ludlow, MA/Springfield Jr. Falcons). Senior defenseman Wayne Bonkowski (Onsted, MI/Boston Jr. Blackhawks) and Kaloustian drew the assists.

UMass Dartmouth out shot Fitchburg State, 44-25. Dryjowicz-Burek made 22 saves for the Corsairs. UMass Dartmouth converted one of five power play opportunities, while FSC cashed in two of six.

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Fitchburg State 3, UMass Dartmouth 2