Fitchburg State Nipped By Salem State, 7-5
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Salem St. (11-7-3, 10-2-2MASCAC) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
|
Fitchburg St. (10-11-1, 7-7-1MASCAC) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Snyder collects pair of goal for Falcons in MASCAC setback
FITCHBURG, Mass. – Senior forward Cameron Snyder netted a pair of markers for Fitchburg State, but the Falcons dropped a 7-5 decision to the visiting Vikings of Salem State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Wallace Civic Center on senior day.
Salem State grabbed the lead at the 6:58 mark of the first period as junior forward Derek Makimaa collected a feed from senior Brad Jones and deposited the puck into the back of net for his fourth tally on the year for the 1-0 advantage.
Following Makimaa's second score of the contest, which doubled the Vikings lead (2-0), Fitchburg State cut into the deficit when freshman forward Tyler Warila connected on his seventh score on the year at the 12:36 mark to make the score 2-1.
The Falcons knotted the score (2-2) roughly two and half minutes later as newcomer Dean Zerby received a pass from classmates Kyle Hillick and Joshua Larsen and blasted a shot inside the near post for his second goal of the season.
Salem State regained the lead with just under four and half minutes remaining in the opening period when Makimaa completed the hat trick, slipping a shot into the left side of the net for the 3-2 edge after 20 minutes of play.
In the second stanza, the Green and Gold retied the contest (3-3) just 1:03 into the frame as senior forward Jon Johannesson ripped a shot inside the near post off assists from sophomore Nick DiNicola and junior James Gordon for his fourth tally of the season.
The Vikings took the lead back four minutes later when junior forward Casey Miller connected on his sixth score on the year for the 4-3 margin before senior forward Michael Chen and sophomore Emile Levesque connected on back-to-back score for the visitors to make the score 6-3 going into the final period of play.
In the third period, the Green and Gold battled back as Snyder connected on his seventh marker of the 2016-17 campaign just 49 seconds into the frame (6-4). Fitchburg State rallied again with just under five minute left in regulation as Snyder struck for his second goal of the game, but the Vikings secured the win when junior forward Dan Holland fired a shot into the empty net with four seconds left, resulting in the 7-5 final.
Prior to the contest, Fitchburg State honored its four seniors playing in their final regular season: #19 Jon Johannesson, #23 Jordan Furlane, #25 Cameron Snyder and #26 Mike Fish for their contributions to the program.
For the contest, Salem State held a 32-22 margin in shots, while Fitchburg State finished 1-for-2 with the man advantage. In goal, sophomores Charles Jakobsson and Quinn Wold combined to stop 25 shots for the Falcons, while junior Jason Pucciarelli made 17 saves in 59:42 minutes of action for the Vikings.
Fitchburg State (10-11-1, 7-7-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Monday as it host the Lancers of Worcester State University for a contest starting at 8:30 p.m. Salem State (11-8-3, 10-2-2 MASCAC) will travel to Plymouth State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
