UMass Dartmouth Ice Fitchburg State, 3-2

Lawler finds back of net in third straight game in Falcons MASCAC setback

FITCHBURG, Mass. (December 3, 2011) – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team hosted the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth this evening, suffering a tough 3-2 decision to its MASCAC rivals in the Wallace Civic Center at Fitchburg State University.

Fitchburg State opened the contest with an early 1-0 lead after one period of play but UMass Dartmouth knotted the score early in the second frame to send them game into the third stanza at a 1-1 deadlock. In the final frame, the Corsairs cashed in twice, grabbing a 3-1 lead in the first six minutes and held off a Falcon comeback to earn their fifth victory of the season.

Senior Thomas McAleer (Long Island, N.Y./New York Bobcats) put Fitchburg State on the board first, taking a feed from senior Bryan Canter (Anchorage, AK/Helena Bighorns) and Shawn Bradley (Lawrence, Mass./Central Catholic) for his second goal of the year at the 17:05 mark.

UMass Dartmouth responded early in the second, knotting the score at 1-1 with a tally from Phil Bronner (Wilbraham, Mass./Springfield Jr. Falcons). Bronner netted his seventh goal of the season just 4:38 into the period with dishes from Rob Dudley (Douglas, Mass./Middlesex School) and Mike Owens (South Boston, Mass./Boston Jr. Bulldogs).

In the third period, UMass Dartmouth came out firing, scoring back-to-back markers over the first 6:06 to gain a 3-1 advantage. Junior Dave McDonald (Wakefield, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors) gave the Corsairs a 2-1 margin with his third goal of the year at the 4:46 mark while Cody Gut (Chichester, N.H./Boston Jr. Bulldogs) netted the eventual game-winner just 1:20 later.

The Falcons added a score midway through the period, cutting their deficit to only one on a Trevor Lawler's (Fitchburg, Mass./New England Jr. Huskies) third goal of the season, but junior goaltender Ryan Williams (Milton, ON/Huntsville Otters) kept Fitchburg State off the board for the remainder of the contest to preserve the victory. Williams finished with 24 stops for the visitors, while senior Bobby Leiser (Monroe, N.Y./New York Applecore) finished with 28 saves for the hosts.

Fitchburg State (2-5-1, 1-2-1 MASCAC) will be back in action on Thursday as it travels to Westfield State University at 7:35 p.m. UMass Dartmouth (5-2-1, 3-0-1 MASCAC) travels to Plymouth State University for a match starting at 6 p.m.