Fitchburg State Defeated By Plymouth State, 7-1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Fitchburg St. (11-15-1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
Plymouth St. (19-5-2) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
Kramer collects lone goal for the Falcons in MASCAC semifinal
PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team dropped a tough 7-1 decision to the Panthers of Plymouth State University in semifinal round action of the 2016-17 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Ice Hockey Tournament this evening at Hanaway Rink.
With the win, Plymouth State advances to the 2016-17 MASCAC Ice Hockey Championship game and will host the second seeded Vikings of Salem State University on Saturday at time to be determined. Fitchburg State concludes its 2016-17 season with an overall record of 11-15-1 and a 7-10-1 mark in conference play.
Plymouth State took the lead at the 8:40 mark of the first period as sophomore forward Matt Volonnino collected a feed from classmate Ryan Stevens and senior Matt Vermillion and buried a shot into the back of the net for his sixth tally on the year for the 1-0 advantage
Fitchburg State knotted the score (1-1) with just over five minutes left in the opening frame when junior forward Corey Hayashi gathered a rebound in front of the net off a shot by senior Mike Fish and wristed a shot inside the far post for his second goal of the season.
The Panthers regained the lead at the 18:45 mark as freshman forward Tim Larocque settled a loose puck off his own shot and struck for his sixth score on the 2016-17 campaign off an assist from senior Tord Thoresen for the 2-1 edge after 20 minutes of play.
In the middle stanza, Plymouth State upped its margin 2:32 into the second period when Stevens took control of the puck at mid ice, raced up the side boards and slipped a shot into the right side of the net for his team-leading 19th goal of the year for the 3-1 lead.
The hosts extended its lead midway through the frame as freshman Victor Bergstrom found the back of the net for his second tally on the season as seniors Tommy Dowell and Dan Dupell assisted on the play for the 4-1 advantage, going into the final period.
In the third period, The Panthers secured the win 5:54 into the final stanza when Dowell connected on his fifth goal of the year on helpers from sophomore Ludvig Steenberg and classmate Tim Perron to make the score 5-1, en-route to the 7-1 final
Throughout the contest, Plymouth State held a 34-25 advantage in shots, while Fitchburg State finished 0-for-6 on the power play. In net, sophomores Kirby Saari and Quinn Wold combined to stop 27 shots for the Falcons, while sophomore Evan Morelli made 24 saves for the Panthers in the complete game effort.