Falcons Edged By Lancers, 5-3 In MASCAC Quarterfinals

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University ice hockey team suffered a tough 5-3 setback to the Lancers of Worcester State University this evening in quarterfinal round action of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Ice Hockey Post-Season Tournament at the Worcester Ice Center.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 3, Worcester State 5
Records: Fitchburg State (12-12-2) I Worcester State (15-9-2)

How It Happened

Worcester State raced out to a 3-0 advantage in after one period of play as junior Tim Drevitch (Oxford, N.J.), sophomore Kyle Hayter (Helena, Mont.) and classmate Nick Patullo (Doylestown, Penn.) found the back of the net for the Lancers.

In the second period, Fitchburg State cut the lead to 3-2 in the opening eight minutes of the middle stanza when senior Nick DiNicola (Wolcott, Conn.) and sophomore Sascha Figi (Kloten, Switzerland) connected on back-to-back scores for the Green and Gold.

Worcester State pushed their advantage to 4-2 with just over 13 minutes left in the final period of play as Patullo struck for his second tally of the contest before the Falcons responded when Figi blasted a shot inside the far post for his second marker of the night.

The Lancers secured the victory however with Drevitch collecting an empty netter with just 1.6 seconds remaining in the contest, resulting in the 5-3 final.

Inside the Numbers,

• 65th meeting between the two schools with the Falcons 42-19-4 vs the Lancers
• Sophomore Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.) stopped 37 shots for Fitchburg State
• Freshman Ryan Hoff (Brockton, Mass.) made 26 saves for Worcester State
• Worcester State held a 42-29 margin in shots
• Fitchburg State finished 0-for-8 with the man advantage
• Figi netted three points for the Falcons

Up Next

Falcons conclude their 2018-19 season with an overall record of 12-12-2 and a 9-7-2 clip in conference play. Lancers advance to the MASCAC semifinals and will travel to top seeded Plymouth State on Tuesday for a contest starting at 7:00 PM.

Portions of release courtesy of Worcester State SID