Fitchburg State Falls At Plymouth State, 4-1

Fretz collects lone goal for the Falcons in MASCAC setback

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team dropped a tough 4-1 decision to the Panthers of Plymouth State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at Hanaway Rink.

With the win, Plymouth State earns the number one seed in the upcoming MASCAC Ice Hockey post-season tournament, while claiming the MASCAC Ice Hockey regular season title in the process. 

Plymouth State grabbed the lead at the 5:40 mark of the first period as senior forward Dan Dupell gathered a feed from sophomores Quinn Carroll and Tim Perron and deposited the puck inside the near post for his eighth tally on the year for the 1-0 advantage.

The Panthers doubled their margin (2-0) roughly two and half minutes later when freshman forward Tim Larocque struck for his seventh score of the season, blasting a shot into the left side of the net for the unassisted goal.

In the middle stanza, Plymouth State upped its lead midway through the frame as senior Matt Vermillion fired a shot from the top of point into the lower left corner off assists from Larocque and newcomer Alex LeFave for his first goal of the year for the 3-0 edge.

Fitchburg State answered back 46 seconds later when sophomore forward Michael Fretz collected a pass from sophomore Tyler Warila and senior Cameron Snyder and one timed a shot inside the far post for his ninth score on the season to make the score 3-1 going into the final period of play.

In the third period, the hosts added an insurance tally with just over a minute left in the contest as senior forward Michael Economos settled a feed from sophomore Ryan Stevens and buried a shot into the empty net for his 13th goal of the 2016-17 campaign, resulting in the 4-1 final.

Throughout the contest, Plymouth State held a slim 27-23 advantage in shots, while Fitchburg State finished 0-for-6 on the power play. In net, sophomore Quinn Wold turned aside 23 shots in 59:13 minutes of action for the Falcons, while freshman Thierry Messervier made 22 saves for the Panthers in the complete game effort.

The Fitchburg State hockey team (10-13-1, 7-9-1 MASCAC) returns action on Saturday as it travels to UMass Dartmouth to take on the Corsairs at 4 p.m. Plymouth State (16-5-2, 14-1-1 MASCAC) will host the Lancers of Worcester University on Saturday for a contest starting at 6 p.m.