Fitchburg State Edged By Salem State, 3-1

Snyder nets lone goal for Falcons in MASCAC setback

SALEM, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team dropped a tough 3-1 decision to the Vikings of Salem State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Rockett Ice Arena.

Salem State took the lead at the 17:08 mark of the first period as junior forward Ryan Wilkinson converted on the power-play, depositing the puck into the back of net for his sixth tally on the season off assists from senior Brad Jones and junior Daniel Campbell for the 1-0 advantage after one period of play.

In the second period, the Vikings doubled their margin (2-0) roughly nine minutes into the frame when sophomore defenseman Aleksi Mustaniemi buried a shot inside the near post for his second tally of the season.

The hosts upped its lead with just under a minute and a half remaining in the period as sophomore forward Emile Levesque settled  a loose puck in front of the net and struck for his first goal of the season to make the score 3-0 going into the third period.

In the final period of play, Fitchburg State broke its scoring silence 14:36 into the stanza when senior forward Cameron Snyder capitalized with the man advantage as Snyder collected a feed from sophomore Ricky Kramer and freshman Joshua Larson and proceeded to blast a shot into the right side of the net for his fourth goal on the year, resulting in the 3-1 final.

Throughout the contest, Salem State held a 35-27 edge in shots, while Fitchburg State finished 1-for-3 on the power-play. In net, sophomore Kirby Saari stopped 32 shots for the Falcons in 58:00 minutes of work, while junior Jason Pucciarelli made 26 saves for the Vikings in the complete game effort.

Fitchburg State (7-8-1, 4-5-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Saturday as it hosts the Panthers of Plymouth State University for a contest starting at 4 p.m. Salem State (6-7-3, 5-2-2 MASCAC) will travel to UMass Dartmouth on Saturday at 4 p.m.