Falcons Double Up Corsairs, 6-3

Warila nets two goals in Falcons MASCAC victory  

New Bedford, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University ice hockey team defeated the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth, 6-3 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Hetland Arena.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 6, UMass Dartmouth 3
Records: Fitchburg State (11-6-3, 6-4-3 MASCAC)| UMass Dartmouth (9-10-1, 6-6-1 MASCAC)

How It Happened

UMass Dartmouth opened the scoring just 1:15 into the first period as junior forward Jonathan Ruiz (Williamstown, N.J.) connected on his team-leading 14th tally on the year before the Corsairs doubled their lead (2-0) at the 18:25 mark when Ruiz struck for his second goal of the contest.

Fitchburg State cut into the deficit with one second remaining in the first stanza as sophomore forward Christopher Vicario (Cranston, R.I.) gathered a feed from junior Nick DiNicola (Wolcott, Conn.) and buried a shot into the back of the net for his ninth score of the season to make the score 2-1.

In the second frame, the Falcons knotted the score (2-2) at the 3:40 mark when sophomore Tyler Warila (Shirley, Mass.) wristed a shot inside the near post for his team-best 12th marker of the 2017-18 campaign.  

With the score tied at 2-2 going into the final period of play, the Green and Gold grabbed the lead midway through the third period as senior James Gordon (Hingham, Mass.) buried a shot into the back of the net for his ninth goal of the year to give the visitors a 3-2 edge.

UMass Dartmouth retied the contest (3-3) with four minutes left in the game when junior Jay Clarke (Forston, Ga.) netted his third goal of the season. But Fitchburg State quickly answered back as junior Patrick Germain (Auburn, Mass.) connected on his second score on the year to make the score 4-3. Following a marker by Warila, the Falcons put the game away late in the frame when junior Ricky Kramer (Barnstead, N.H.) added an empty-netter, resulting in the 6-3 final.

Inside the Numbers

74th meeting between the two schools in ice hockey with the Falcons 28-39-7 all-time when taking on the Corsairs.

UMass Dartmouth had won two of the previous three contest with Fitchburg State, including a 4-2 decision in the last matchup (1/6/2018) earlier this season at the Wallace Civic Center.

Corsairs finished with a slim 39-36 advantage in shots.

Fitchburg State finished 1-for-7 on the power-play, while UMass Dartmouth went 1-for-7 with the man advantage.

Freshman Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.) finished with 36 saves for the Falcons in the complete game effort

Senior Drew Michels (Newton, Mass.) stopped 30 shots for the Corsairs in the 59:40 minutes of action.

Up Next

Falcons will travel to Plymouth State on Saturday to take on the Panthers for MASCAC matchup, starting at 6:00 P.M. Corsairs will visit Salem State on the same date for a conference tilt at 2:00 P.M.