#5 Fitchburg State Holds Off #4 Westfield State, 4-3

Falcons advance to semifinal round vs. top-seeded Plymouth State

WESTFIELD, Mass. (February 23, 2013) – Sophomore defenseman Craig Halpin (Irvington, N.Y./New York Applecore) registered the game-winning marker with 1:49 remaining in regulation to lift Fitchburg State over Westfield State University, 4-3 in quarterfinal action of the 2012-13 MASCAC Ice Hockey Tournament this evening at Amelia Park Arena.

With the victory, Fitchburg State improves to 11-13-2 on the season and advances to Tuesday's semifinal round vs. Plymouth State University at 6 p.m. Westfield State concludes its season with an overall record of 14-9-3 and a 9-6-3 mark in the MASCAC.

Fitchburg State took the lead at the 11:29 mark as freshman John Celli (Leominster, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors) fired a shot inside the right post for his 11th marker of the season off assists from classmate Nick Indelicato (Pembroke, Mass./Bridgewater Bandits) and senior Justin Quinn (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) for the 1-0 margin.

The Owls quickly knotted the score (1-1) 46 seconds later when senior forward TJ Powers (East Greenwich, R.I./Fresno Monsters) slipped a wrist shot into the back of net of his team-leading 14th score on the year. Sophomore Steve Evans (Kingston, ON./Wellington Dukes) and freshman P.J. McCadden (Mount Sinai, N.Y./South Shore Kings) assisted on the play.

The Falcons regained the lead with 3:50 remaining in the opening frame as sophomore Derek Giansanti (Newington, Conn./Connecticut Jr. Wolfpack) notched his second goal of the season on feeds from classmate Sean Loebs (Cresskill, N.J./Connecticut Jr. Wolfpack) and freshman Kevin Holmes (Newburyport, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors) for the 2-1 lead after one period of play.

In the second stanza, the Green and Gold upped their lead at the 14:42 mark when Holmes connected for his fourth score of the season, converting a pass from classmate Timmy Genova (Smithtown, N.Y./New York Applecore) for the 3-1 lead heading into the final frame.

In the third period of play, Westfield State cut the deficit to one (3-2) at the 1:49 mark as Powers registered his second tally of the game on an assist from Evans before sophomore forward Nic Vidoni (Stittsville, ON./Carleton Place Canadians) retied the game 3-3 with 10:31 remaining in regulation.

That set the stages for Halpin's game winner as the second year Falcon blasted a slap shot into the upper left corner for his first colligate tally on a helper from senior forward Joseph Caveney (Fitchburg, Mass./New England Jr. Huskies) to secure the victory for the visitors.

Throughout the contest, Westfield State held a commanding 51-25 advantage in shots, while the Falcons finished 2-for-4 with the man advantage. In net, junior Randy Wolcott (East Haven, Conn./Wisconsin-Stevens Point) collected an impressive 48 saves for Fitchburg State in the complete game effort, while sophomore Ian Perrier (Whitehorse, YT./Dryden Ice Dogs) stopped 21 shots for the Owls in the setback.