#5 Fitchburg State Falls At #4 Framingham State, 7-1

Rams advance to MASCAC semifinal round to take on top seeded Salem State

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (March 1, 2014) – Fifth seeded Fitchburg State fell to the fourth seeded Rams of Framingham State University, 7-1 in quarterfinal round action of the 2013-14 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Ice Hockey Tournament this evening at Loring Arena.

With the win, Framingham State improves to 11-10-4 on the year and advances to Tuesday's semifinal round vs. the top seeded Vikings of Salem State at 7 p.m. Fitchburg State concludes its season with an overall record of 11-14-1 and a 8-9-1 mark in conference play.

In the first period of play, Framingham State grabbed the lead at the 8:16 mark as junior forward Dean Cavicchi (Plymouth, Mass.) collected a pair of feeds from sophomore Cameron Hoffman (Fort Stevens, Wash.) and senior Tom Tracy (Wakefield, Mass.) and fired a shot into the back of the net for his third tally of season for the 1-0 margin.

The Rams quickly doubled their advantage (2-0) two minutes later when junior Ryan McDonald (Anchorage, Ak.) struck for his 13th score on the year, using assists from classmate Dylan Cosford (Windsor, Ont.) and senior Bo Driscoll (Chelmsford, Mass.).

The hosts upped its lead at the 11:35 mark as sophomore Ricky O'Connor (N. Andover, Mass.) connected for his fifth goal of the season for the 3-0 lead before Cavicchi added his second score of the contest with just under three minutes remaining in the opening period for the 4-0 margin going after one period of play.

In the middle stanza, the Black and Gold continued the offensive pressure when senior forward Daniel Miressi (Monroe, Conn.) found Driscoll at the right point and blasted a shot inside the near post for his fourth marker of the season for the 5-0 lead going into the second intermission.

In the final frame, Fitchburg State broke up the shut out at the 16:54 mark as sophomore Timmy Genova (Smithtown, N.Y.) fired a shot into the upper left corner for his sixth goal of the season to make the score 5-1. Classmate Thomas Carlow (Franklin, Mass.) and senior Shawn Bradley (Tewksbury, Mass.) assisted on the play.

Framingham State secured the victory two minutes later when junior Brendan McCarron (Millbury, Mass.) registered his team-leading 15th tally of the season for the 6-1 lead before the Rams capped the games scoring at the 19:49 mark on Hoffman's second goal on the season, resulting in the 7-1 final.  

Throughout the match, Fitchburg State held a 38-25 advantage in shots, while the Rams converted on 3-of-11 power-play chances. Between the pipes, juniors Ryan Wysocki (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Dan Finn (Fitchburg, Mass.) combined to stop 18 shots for the Falcons, while senior Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, Calif.) made 37 saves for Framingham State en-route to the victory.