Falcons Fall to Panthers in MASCAC Clash

Fitchburg, Mass. –The Fitchburg State ice hockey dropped a 5-4 decision to the Panthers of Plymouth State in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Thursday evening at Wallace Civic Center.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 4, Plymouth State 5
Records: Fitchburg State (1-1, 0-1 MASCAC) | Plymouth State (1-1-1, 1-0 MASCAC)

How It Happened

The Falcons tipped the twine first in the MASCAC match-up. Newcomer Trenton Skaggs (Oconomowoc, Wis.) kept the puck in the offensive zone and fired a shot from the blueline that was re-directed by senior Wyatt Wilmshurst (Massena, NY) on net. After an initial save from Panthers goaltender Brendahn Brawley (Morton, Pa.), senior Anthony Ceolin (Simsbury, Conn.) collected the rebound and deposited his first goal of the season.

Plymouth State evened the score in the second period with a power-play goal from Junior Carson Lanceleve (Stewiacke, Nova Scotia) at the 2:40 mark. Niks Krollis (Riga, Latvia) and Colin Stevens (Concord, NH) had the assists.

The Green and Gold regained the lead with a man-advantage score at 10:33 in the second frame. Off the face-off, sophomore Toivo Kramer (New York, NY) found Wilmshurst in front of the net to give the Falcons the advantage.

Trailing 2-1, the Panthers reeled off three straight scores to close out the period. Sophomore Ethan Stuckless (Conception Bay South, Newfoundland) notched his first of the season to even the game at 2-2. Junior Jeromey Rancourt (Lewiston, Maine) and senior Jacob Laurin (Stockholm, Sweden) added back-to-back power-play goals to forge Plymouth State ahead 4-2.

Fitchburg State battled back in the third. With a two-on-one break-a-way, Ceolin found senior Hunter Fortin (Westerville, Ohio) just 47 seconds into the period to cut the deficit to 4-3. On the power-play senior Gene Bouthiette (Enfield, Conn) found classmate Rece Bergeman (Newark, Del.) wide open in front of the net to knot the score at 4-4.

Plymouth State scored the game-winner when Rancourt put a rebound past the Falcons goaltender for his second of the game for a power-play goal with just two minutes remaining in the game.

Inside the Numbers

                Plymouth State held the advantage in shots (43-29) and converted 5-for-9 on the power-play

                The Falcons were 2-for-7 with the man-advantage

                Senior Christopher Mattone (New Windsor, NY) posted 38 saves in the setback, while his counterpart Brawley stopped 25 shots for the win.

Up Next

Fitchburg State will head to Salem State on Thursday, November 10^th, for a MASCAC tilt with the Vikings starting at 7:00 PM.