Fitchburg State Clipped By UMass Dartmouth, 2-1

Gordon nets lone goal for Falcons in MASCAC setback

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team suffered a tough 2-1 setback to the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Hetland Arena.

Following a scoreless first period, UMass Dartmouth opened the scoring just 2:50 into the frame as freshman forward Steven Leonard collected a feed from newcomer Jeff Kirkwood and slipped the puck into the back of the net for his third tally on the year for the 1-0 lead.

The Corsairs doubled their margin at the 11:52 mark of the second period when sophomore forward Brendan McDonough connected on his third tally of the season off assists from junior Jerry Laakso and Leonard to make the score 2-0 after 40 minutes of play.

In the third stanza, Fitchburg State broke its scoring silence roughly six minutes into the period as junior forward James Gordon converted on the power-play, blasting a shot into the right side of the net for his fifth marker of the 2016-17 campaign.

With time winding down, the Green and Gold nearly knotted the score late in the contest when senior Cameron Snyder and sophomore Connor McPherson put back-to-back shots on frame, but Corsair keeper Drew Michals was up to the task, turning aside both shots, resulting in the 2-1 final.

Throughout the game, Fitchburg State held a 36-30 advantage in shots, while the Corsairs finished 1-for-6 on the power-play. In goal, sophomore Kirby Saari made 28 saves for the Falcons in 59:05 minutes of action, while Michals stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced for UMass Dartmouth in the complete game effort.

Fitchburg State (4-5-1, 3-2-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Saturday as it travels to Franklin Pierce to take on the Ravens for a contest starting at 7:30 p.m. UMass Dartmouth (6-4-0, 3-2-0 MASCAC) will host the Rams of Framingham State at 4 p.m.

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