Fitchburg State and UMass Dartmouth Skate To 2-2 Overtime Draw

Johannesson and Snyder net one goal each for Falcons in MASCAC tie

FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team skated to a 2-2 overtime draw with the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Wallace Civic Center.

Action began immediately when UMass Dartmouth had what was thought to be an early go-ahead goal 1:36 into play, but senior forward Garrett Allen's slap-shot from the point was nulled due to a goalie interference call on the Corsairs.

With 7:15 left in the opening period, Fitchburg State opened the scoring as senior Nat Rojas found junior forward Jon Johannesson to net his sixth goal of the season stick-side grabbing the 1-0 advantage

In the second period the visitors pulled even when sophomore forward Casey Shea scooped a loose puck in front of the blue line and  send a slap-shot to the net just before taking a big hit for his team-leading 14^th goal unassisted (1-1.)

In the final minute of the middle period the Corsairs were primed to take the lead after a break-away attempt set up a one-on-one with the goalie, but freshman Charles Jakobsson answered the bell keeping the tie intact with a sprawling glove save effort.

With 13:28 remaining in the third frame, the Green and Gold regained the lead when teammates Michael Fretz and Mike Morrison pushed the puck ahead to forward Cameron Snyder who made one deke before scoring on a tough-angled shot for his 18th point on the season for the 2-1 margin.

With just over three and half minutes left in regulation, UMass Dartmouth managed to knot the knot the score at two apiece as senior forward Mike Restuccia intercept a clearing pass and wristed a short side to force the overtime period.

In the extra frame the Falcons were forced to kill four minutes from a five-minute power-play picked up late in the third period, having a few breakaways attempts turned away while short-handed including a shot that hit off the Corsairs goaltender Drew Michals mask in the final ten seconds of play, but neither team were able to put one away in extended time, resulting in the 2-2 overtime final.

Throughout the contest, UMass Dartmouth held a slim 42-41 advantage in shots with the Corsairs finishing 0-for-2 on the power play as well. In goal, freshman Charles Jakobsson stopped 40 of the 42 shots he faced in the complete game effort for the Falcons, while sophomore Drew Michals made 39 saves in 65 minutes of action for UMass Dartmouth.

Fitchburg State concludes its 2015-16 regular season with an overall record of 11-13-2 and a 7-9-2 clip in the MASCAC and awaits its seeding in the upcoming MASCAC ice hockey post-season tournament, while UMass Dartmouth (7-13-4, 6-8-3 MASCAC) will host Framingham State University on Tuesday for a contest starting at 7:30 p.m.

Release Courtesy of Fitchburg State student journalist Kyle Prudhomme