Falcons Roll Past Vikings in Season Opener

Fitchburg, Mass. – Junior Rece Bergeman notched a hat trick to propel the Fitchburg State ice hockey team to a season-opening 8-0 victory over the Vikings of Salem State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Wallace Civic Center. 

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 8, Salem State 0
Records: Fitchburg State (1-0, 1-0 MASCAC) |Salem State 1-2, 1-1 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Bergeman (Newark, Del.) netted Fitchburg State's first goal of the season. Skating shorthanded Gene Bouthiette (Enfield, Conn.) found Bergeman in the left slot, after an initial save from Vikings goaltender Joona Sato-Hunsula (Turku, Finland) the junior collected the rebound and tucked the shot off Sato-Hunsula from behind the net for the first goal of the game.

The Falcons double the margin (2-0) with eight seconds left in the frame. Bouthiette broke up a face-off in the defensive zone to split the Vikings at the top of the blue line and skated in alone for a shorthanded tally.

Fitchburg State played a complete second period and extended the lead to 5-0. Bergeman knocked in his second of the game at 9:13 then the Green and Gold added a pair of man-advantage scores. First year Toivo Kramer (New York, NY) notched his first collegiate goal with a redirect off a shot from the blue line from senior Adam Kusior (Tecumseh, Ont). Just under three minutes later, junior Anthony Ceolin (Simsbury, Conn.) connected on a juicy rebound for his first of the season.

Juniors Trent Shanley (Hillsdale, NJ) and Wyatt Wilmshurst (Massena, NY) scored their first goals of the season while Bergeman tallied his third of the game in the third period en route to the 8-0 final.

Senior goaltender Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.) was in mid-season form making several outstanding saves to backbone the Falcons to the win and notch his eighth career shutout.

Inside the Numbers

• Bouthiette, Wilmshurst and Kramer each finished the night with a goal and two assists for three points
• Both teams had 38 shots on net
• Fitchburg State went 3-for-8 with the man advantage, while the Vikings were 0-for-9 on the power play
• McGrath  stopped 38 shots for the Falcons in the win
• Sophomore Aaron Mercer (Corner Brook, Newfoundland) and Sato-Hunsula combined for 30 saves for the Vikings

 Up Next

The Falcons will travel to Framingham State on Saturday night for a match-up with the Rams starting at 7:40 PM. The Vikings are back in action a week from tonight when the head to Westfield State for a MASCAC tilt at 7:35 PM.