Fitchburg State Upended By Plymouth State, 6-2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Fitchburg St. (11-14-2, 7-9-2) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
|
Plymouth St. (21-4-1, 15-2-1) | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Kramer and Connolly net one goal each for Falcons in MASCAC semifinal setback
Plymouth, N.H. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team suffered a tough 6-2 setback to the second seeded Panthers of Plymouth State University in semifinal round action of the 2015-16 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) ice hockey tournament this evening at Hanaway Rink.
In the first period of play, Fitchburg State nearly took the lead with just over three minutes remaining in the frame as senior Ryan Connolly and classmate Max Lorenzen put back-to-back shots on goal, but Panthers netminder Gordon Ceasar was able to deny both chances to preserve the 0-0 stalemate after 20 minutes of play.
The Falcons opened the scoring at the 5:07 mark of the middle stanza when Connolly gathered a feed from newcomer Ricky Kramer and junior Cameron Snyder and wristed a shot inside the far post for his 13th goal on the season for the 1-0 advantage.
Plymouth State knotted the score (1-1) roughly 13 minutes into the second period as senior Andrew Wigg took a pass from freshman Tim Perron in front of the net and deposited the puck near side for his tenth tally on the year.
The Panther grabbed the lead two minutes later when junior Tommy Dowell fired a shot into the back of the net on the power play for his first goal of the season as Wigg and newcomer Colby Lanceleve assisted on the play for the 2-1 margin.
The hosts upped its advantage at the 17:09 mark as junior forward Dan Dupell struck for his 12th score on the season off feeds from freshman Matt Vermillion and senior Colt Smelstor to make the score 3-1 going into the second intermission.
With the score 4-1, Fitchburg State cut into the deficit (4-2) at the 8:32 mark of the final period when Kramer gathered a pass from senior Ryan Bedard and Connolly and rifled a shot into the upper right corner of the net for the power play score.
Plymouth State added an insurance goal midway through the third period as senior Josh Woody found the back of the net with the man advantage for his 11th goal of the season with helpers from Lanceleve and Wigg for the 5-2 margin, en-route to a 6-2 victory.
Throughout the contest, Fitchburg State held a 34-25 advantage in shots, while the Falcons finished 1-for-6 on the power-play. In between the pipes, freshman Charles Jakobsson registered 25 saves for the Falcons in 55:39 minutes of action, while Ceasar stopped 23 shots for the Panthers in the complete game effort.
Fitchburg State concludes its 2015-16 season with an overall record of 11-14-2 and a 7-9-2 mark with conference play, while Plymouth State (21-4-1, 15-2-1 MASCAC) will take on the winner of the Westfield State/Salem State game for the 2016 MASCAC ice hockey championship on Saturday at a time to be determined.