Worcester State Rallies Past Fitchburg State, 3-1

Celli nets lone goal; Wysocki stops 27 shots for Falcons in conference setback

FITCHBURG, Mass. (February 17, 2014) – Fitchburg State dropped a 3-1 decision to Worcester State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) ice hockey action this afternoon at the Wallace Civic Center.

Fitchburg State opened the scoring at the 7:38 mark of the first period as sophomore forward John Celli (Leominster, Mass.) redirected a shot in front of the net off the stick of junior Brett Nussbaum (Boca Raton, Fla.) into the back of the net for his team-leading 11th marker of the season for the 1-0 advantage.

The Lancers answered three minutes later when freshman forward Michael Dery (Grand Rapids, Mich.) collected a loose puck in front and wristed a shot inside the near post for his fourth tally on the year, using a feed from junior Cody Osburn (Sacramento, Calif.) to knot the score 1-1 going into the first intermission.

In the second stanza, Worcester State nearly grabbed the lead with five minutes remaining in the frame as junior Stephen Rock (Tulsa. Okla.) intercepted a pass at center ice and skated in alone, but Falcon net-minder Ryan Wysocki (Grand Rapids, Mich.) denied the scoring chance to preserve the 1-1 stalemate after two periods of play.

In the final frame, the Blue and Gold took the lead for good at the 8:37 mark of the third period when Rock deposited the puck into the net for his third goal of the season to put the visitors up 2-1. Junior Nathan Stanley (Meridian, Ida.) and classmate Rich Ledy (Marquette, Mich.) assisted on the play.

The Lancers added an insurance tally with the man advantage, midway through the period when Stanley blasted a shot from the left side into the upper right corner of the net for his sixth score of the season on assists from seniors Derek Serbon (Crown Point, Ind.) and Curtis Martin (Okotoks, Alberta), resulting in the 3-1 final.

For the contest, Fitchburg State held a 34-30 margin in shots, while the Lancers converted on 1-of-4 power play chances throughout the match. In net, Wysocki collected 27 saves for the Falcons in 58 minutes of work, while sophomore Salvatore Tecci (Franklin, Mass.) stopped 33 shots for Worcester State en-route to his sixth victory on the year.

Fitchburg State (9-12-1, 6-8-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Thursday as it hosts the Rams of Framingham State University for a contest starting at 7 p.m. Worcester State (9-11-1, 5-9-1 MASCAC) will entertain Plymouth State University on Saturday at 5:45 p.m.