UMass Dartmouth Stops Fitchburg State, 6-3

Costigan nets a pair in Falcons final regular season game

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. (February 27, 2010) - The Fitchburg State ice hockey team closed out the 2009-10 regular season in a tough way, falling to UMass Dartmouth, 6-3 in MASCAC action this evening.  

Despite the loss, Fitchburg State claimed the 2009-10 MASCAC regular season crown with an 18-5-1 record overall (14-4-0 MASCAC) and will host the MASCAC semifinals on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. The Falcons will face the winner of Westfield State/UMass Dartmouth which will be played on Tuesday night.  

The Falcons received solid effort from freshman Chris Costigan (Salem, N.H./Northern Cyclones), who tallied two points on two goals, while junior Chris Riggs (Sewell, N.J./Fort Vancouver Pioneers) also added a marker.

Sophomore Giancarlo Capodanno (Mountainside, N.J./NJ Rockets) led the UMass Dartmouth offensive fire, notching his first hat-trick of the season with three scores, while senior center Matt Serino (Saugus, Mass./Avon Old Farms) paced the Corsairs attack with three helpers.

After one period of play, UMass Dartmouth tallied a slim one goal edge as Capodanno and Todd Bartelson (Pepperell, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors) connected for back-to-back scores early in the period. Costigan brought the Falcons storming back as the rookie forward connected on a breakaway goal and Riggs hit home just 1:05 later to knot the score at 2-2. The Corsairs wrapped up the first period scoring late in the frame however as Capodanno tallied his second marker of the game at the 15:36 mark.

Each team scored once in the second stanza as Corsair freshman forward Dave McDonald (Wakefield, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors) and Costigan found the back of the net. McDoanld staked UMass Dartmouth to a two-goal lead with a tally at the 2:43 mark, but Costigan rallied the Falcons with his second goal of the game on an FSC power play.

In the third, Fitchburg State's potent offense was held silent, while the UMass attack registered a pair of scores. Senior Paul Moran (Rockville Centre, NY/Boston Jr. Bulldogs) gave the Corsairs a 5-3 advantage with his first career goal, while Capodanno capped his day with an empty-netter at the 19:15 mark.

Fitchburg State narrowly outshot UMass Dartmouth, holding a 34-32 advantage in targets. Junior goaltender Robert Vorse (Leominster, Mass./Bay State Breakers) stopped 26 shots in net for the Falcons, while senior goaltender Jon Dryjowicz-Burek (Ludlow, Mass./Springfield Jr. Falcons) made 31 saves for the Corsairs.

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UMass Dartmouth 6, Fitchburg State 3

Scoring
First Period: UMD: Giancarlo Capodanno (Matt Berard), 5:32; UMD: Todd Bartelson (Joe Hill, Jason Stahl), 7:40; FIT: Chris Costigan (Trevor Lawler), 11:53; FIT: Chris Riggs (Andrew Hutton, John Soroka), 12:58; UMD: Capodanno (Graeme Bourne, Matt Serino), 15:36;  
Second Period: UMD:  Dave McDonald (Nick Marquis, Mike Owens), 2:43; FIT: Chris Costigan (Thomas McAleer, Billy Pescosolido), 12:38;
Third Period: UMD: Paul Moran (Serino), 7:55; UMD: Capodanno (Serino), 19:15;
Goaltending: FIT: Robert Vorse (59:44), 26 saves; UMD: Jon Dryjowicz-Burek (60:00), 31 saves;
 Shots: FIT: 34; UMD: 32