UMass Dartmouth Downs Fitchburg State, 8-4

Caveney nets a pair in Falcons MASCAC fall

FITCHBURG, Mass. (February 16, 2012) – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team fell victim to an early four goal deficit and could not regain steam as the Falcons suffered a tough, 8-4 MASCAC loss to UMass Dartmouth this evening.

The Falcons opened the contest strong, taking a 1-0 lead off the stick of Joseph Caveney (Fitchburg, Mass./New England Jr. Huskies), but UMass Dartmouth responded with four consecutive goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead at intermission. Junior Dave McDonald (Wakefield, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors) and senior Mike Owens (S. Boston, Mass./Boston Jr. Bulldogs) connected for back-to-back markers near the 15:52 mark to give the Corsairs their first lead of the game, while Greg Girtatos (Tyngsboro, Mass./Bishop Guertin) and Rob Dudley (Douglas, Mass./Middlesex School) followed with a pair of scores within the last two minutes of the frame.

In the second, UMass Dartmouth quickly increased its margin to 5-1 as Owens netted his second score of the game just 1:23 into the period. Fitchburg State responded strong, cutting its deficit to 5-3 with unanswered scores from Kris Threlkeld (Centerville, Ohio/CD Selects) and Cory Callen (Annadale, N.J./Oswego State), but UMass Dartmouth halted the Falcons comeback as Girtatos netted his second tally of the game to give the Corsairs a 6-3 lead.

Over the third period, both teams opened the frame trading goals with Owens completing the hat-trick for the Corsairs and Caveney finding the back of the net for the Falcons, but UMass Dartmouth iced the contest down the stretch, scoring its eighth marker of the game with a goal from Steve Ginand (Milford, Mass./Northern Cyclones).

Between the pipes, senior Bobby Leiser (Monroe, N.Y./New York Applecore) suffered the loss for the Falcons, posting 26 saves over 34 minutes of work, while sophomore Randy Wolcott (East Haven, Conn./Wisconsin-Stevens Point) collected 12 stops for the remainder of the contest. Junior Ryan Williams (Milton, ON/Huntsville Otters) earned the victory with 26 stops for the Corsairs.       

Fitchburg State (8-12-3, 7-7-1 MASCAC) will be in action again on Saturday as it travels to Westfield State at 5:35 p.m. UMass Dartmouth (14-7-2, 9-5-2 MASCAC) will visit Plymouth State on Saturday at 6 p.m.