Fitchburg State Draws Even With UMass Dartmouth, 3-3

Gordon, Johannesson, and Morrison register goals in first tie of the season

FITCHBURG, Mass. – In a closely contested contest at the Wallace Civic Center this evening, the Fitchburg State ice hockey team skated to a 3-3 overtime tie with the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action.

The Falcons opened the scoring late in the first period, as sophomore forward James Gordon took a feed from freshman defenseman Ricky Kramer and one-timed it past goalkeeper Drew Michals for his first goal of the season at the 14:21 mark.

In the final minute of the opening period, the Corsairs equalized as senior forward Brandon Gilmore picked up his team-leading sixth goal of the campaign, using a pass from sophomore defenseman Joe Echelmeier to fire a bouncing into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1 after one period of play.

In the second frame, the Green and Gold regained the lead at the 3:18 mark, as senior defenseman Mike Morrison forced a turnover and passed the puck off to junior forward Jon Johannesson in the neutral zone, who streaked down the right side and fired a shot into the top right corner for his first tally on the year, giving the Falcons a 2-1 lead.

The visitors responded about five minutes later as junior forward Tanner Zacharewicz received a pass from Echelmeier, who skated into the Falcon zone and shot it inside the near post to level the score at 2-2.

The Corsairs nearly took the lead at the 12:51 mark, as junior defenseman Jonathan Houk tried to one-time a pass from the top of the crease, but Falcon keeper Kirby Saari was able to shut the door for the hosts to preserve the 2-2 stalemate after 40 minute of play.

In the final period, UMass Dartmouth broke through on the power play for their first lead at the 7:46 mark, as sophomore forward Mike Sones tallied his third goal of the season as he got off a shot that snuck into the back of the net, with Gilmore and junior forward Mike Kelly picking up the assists.

The Falcons retied the contest with a power play goal of the own at 14:34, tying the game at 3-3 as freshman forward Nick DiNicola got the puck to the goalmouth where Morrison was able to put it in, netting his first goal of the season in the process.

It would take overtime to decide the contest, where the Falcons would dominate the five-minute session. However, Michals stood strong, stopping all five shots he faced. In the final seconds, Gilmore skated down the left side in search of the winning goal, but strong defense steered the puck wide of the net, resulting in the 3-3 final.

For the game, UMass Dartmouth held a 34-32 shot advantage, while the Falcons won the faceoff battle by a tally of 38-33. In addition, each team went 1-3 on the man advantage. In between the pipes, Saari stopped 31 shots for the Falcons, while Michals registered 29 saves for the Corsairs.

Fitchburg State (4-4-1, 2-3-1 MASCAC) will be back in action on Saturday, as they close out 2015 by hosting Division II Franklin Pierce at 4:00 p.m. UMass Dartmouth (2-5-3, 1-2-2 MASCAC) will also return to the ice on Saturday, as they take on the Rams of Framingham State at 7:40 p.m.

Recap Courtesy of Fitchburg State senior Daniel Beaulac

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