Fitchburg State Falls to Johnson and Wales, 4-1
| - 1st | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Johnson & Wales (RI) (4-6-1) | 0 | 0 | ||
|
Fitchburg St. (6-6-1) | 0 | 0 | ||
Connolly collects lone goal for the Falcons
BOSTON, Mass. (January 5, 2013) – Junior Eddie Patterson (Cinnaminson, N.J./Philadelphia Little Flyers) registered two goals as Johnson and Wales defeated Fitchburg State, 4-1 in the opening round of the Codfish Bowl hosted by UMass Boston this afternoon.
Fitchburg State opened the scoring at the 11:21 mark as freshman Ryan Connolly (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./New York Applecore) tallied his fourth marker of the season, using feeds from classmate John Celli (Leominster, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors) and sophomore Sean Loebs (Cresskill, N.J./Connecticut Jr. Wolfpack) for the 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats knotted the score (1-1) less than two minutes later when senior Danny Kaufman (Scotch Plains, N.J./Northern Cyclones) knocked home his seventh score of the year off an assist from freshman Josh Obregon (Omaha, Neb./Odessa Jackalopes) heading into the first intermission.
In the second period, Johnson and Wales broke the 1-1 stalemate midway through the frame as Patterson notched his first goal on the afternoon to put the Wildcats up 2-1. Senior Ryan Kelly (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Walpole Express) and freshman Brett Kangas (Williamstown, Mass./Hartford, Wolfpack) assisted on the play.
In the final stanza, Johnson and Wales upped its lead (3-1) at the 13:45 mark when freshman Daniel Chang (Woodland Hills, Calif./Billings Bulls) struck for his eight score of the season before Patterson sealed the victory for the Wildcats, registering his second tally of the game with 16 second remaining in the contest.
Throughout the match, Johnson and Wales held a slim 34-32 advantage in shots, while the Wildcats tallied one power-play opportunity. Between the pipes, sophomore Ryan Wysocki (Grand Rapids, Mich./Toledo Cherokee) posted 30 saves for the Falcons in the setback, while senior Matt Cooper (Perrysburg, Ohio/Queen City Steam) stopped 31 shots for Johnson and Wales in the complete game effort
Fitchburg State (4-6-1, 3-3-0 MASCAC) returns to action tomorrow as it takes on Wentworth in the consolation round of the Codfish Bowl host by UMass Boston at 1 p.m. Johnson & Wales (6-7-0, 2-3-0 ECAC NE) will take on UMass Boston tomorrow in the championship game at 4 p.m.