Falcons Beat Lancers 6-3 in Sterling Cup Showdown
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Worcester St. (3-9-2, 2-5-1 MASCAC) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
|
Fitchburg St. (6-7-2, 4-3-1 MASCAC) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Six different Falcons pick up goals in MASCAC win
FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team was able to pick up their fourth win in a row, defeating the Lancers of Worcester State 6-3 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play at the Wallace Civic Center this evening.
With the victory, Fitchburg State has now evened the season series with Worcester State at one win each, setting up a rubber match on February 12th in Worcester to determine which school will take a point in the coveted Sterling Cup.
The Falcons opened the scoring 8:55 into the first period as junior Ryan Connolly notched his sixth goal of the season on a three on one with feeds from sophomore Cameron Snyder and newcomer Nick Govig
The hosts doubled their advantage (2-0) at 14:52 mark, when sophomore Jon Johannesson got his fourth goal of the season by pulling a loose puck out of the air and depositing it into the back of the net. Sophomore Mike Fish and junior Paul Falanga assisted on the play.
Fitchburg State nearly had a third goal in the period, when junior Timmy Genova was sprung on a breakaway, however Lancer goaltender Tyler Fallica was able to sprawl to his left to make the save to keep the deficit at 2-0 after 20 minutes of play.
In the second period, the visitors were able to respond on a five-on-three at 8:21, Senior Cody Osburn took a pass from classmate Nathan Stanley and one-timed it inside the near post for his first goal of the year. Just over two minutes later, the Lancers equalized the score (2-2) as freshman forward Alex Pommerville scored his first collegiate goal on a feed from sophomore Crissostomos Villareal.
The Green and Gold would respond at the 14:43 mark, as Falanga was able to get his third goal of the campaign on feeds from Johannesson and senior Craig Halpin for the 3-2 advantage. With 11.1 seconds left in the frame, the Falcons regained their two goal advantage with a power play marker as Connelly dished a pass to Halpin, whose shot was tipped in by senior Sean Loebs for his second tally of the season for the 4-2 margin after two period of play.
The Falcons opened the scoring in the third stanza with 9:07 left in the contest, as junior John Celli picked up his sixth of the year with helpers from Halpin and Snyder. The Lancers would get one back (5-3) at 16:34, as Stanley scored his sixth goal of the year on Worcester State's second five-on-three tally of the night, with sophomore Michael Dery and senior Stephen Rock picking up assists.
With time running out, the Lancers tried to spark a comeback by pulling Fallica for an extra attacker, but Falcons junior forward Stephen Carlette was able to steal the puck and tack on an empty netter, resulting in the 6-3 final.
For the contest, the Lancers held a 38-30 advantage in shots, while the Fitchburg State finished 1-for-3 on the power play. In goal, senior Ryan Wysocki turned away 35 shots for the Falcons in the complete game effort, while Fallica ended up with 24 saves on 29 shots for Worcester State in 59 minutes of action.
Fitchburg State (6-7-2, 4-3-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Thursday as it travels to Westfield State University for a contest starting at 7:35 p.m. Worcester State (3-9-2, 2-5-1 MASCAC) will visit Framingham State University on Thursday at 7:40 p.m.