Falcons Soar Past Owls, 5-2

Diamont nets first collegiate hat trick for Green and Gold

Westfield, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team defeated the Owls of Westfield State University, 5-2 this evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action from the Amelia Ice Park Arena.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 5, Westfield State 2
Records: Fitchburg State (6-2-0, 4-1-0 MASCAC) | Westfield State (4-4-1, 2-2-1 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State grabbed an early 1-0 advantage, just 3:58 into the opening frame as junior Hunter Fortin (Centerville, Ohio) capitalized for the Falcons with the man advantage. Fortin settled his own rebound and buried a shot inside the far post for his team-leading seventh goal on the year as classmates Wyatt Wilmshurst (Massena, N.Y.) and Rece Bergeman (Newark, Del.) added assists on the play.

The Falcons doubled their lead (2-0) roughly two and half minutes later when freshman Zackery Diamont (Billerica, Mass.) gathered a feed from Bergeman and freshman Thomas Harty (Billerica, Mass.), who struck for his second tally on the year.

The Green and Gold would extend their margin at the 13:30 mark with Diaomont wristing a shot into the left side of the net for his second marker of the contest off assists from Bergeman and Harty to make the score 3-0.

In the middle stanza, Fitchburg State pushed its lead to 4-0 as Diamont notched his first collegiate hart trick, putting home his own rebound inside the near post with Bergeman assisting on the play. The Falcons struck again late in the second period when junior Gene Bouthiette (Enfield, Conn.) blasted a shot into the upper left corner for his third marker on the season to make the score 5-0.

Westfield State broke its scoring silence at the 3:10 mark of the third period with senior Paul Frys (Portland, Ore.) converting a power-play tally for his team-leading seventh goal of the 2021-22 campaign off assists from classmates Triston Theriot (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and John Michael-DiGregorio (Montreal, Que.) to cut the lead to 5-1.

The Owls answered again at the 8:12 mark when Theriot found the back of the net for his second score on the year, settling a feed from Frys and senior Jake Ratcliffe (Auckland, New Zealand) and depositing a shot near side, resulting in the 5-2 final.

By the Numbers

• 39th matchup between the two teams with the Falcons 23-13-3 all-time vs. the Owls
• Westfield State finished with a 43-29 margin in shots
• Fitchburg State went 1-for-3 with the man advantage
• Senior Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.) made 41 saves for the Falcons
• Sophomore Kevin Chandler (Hanover, Mass.) stopped 13 shots for the Owls
• Diamont notches first collegiate hat trick for the Falcons

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Saturday as they host the Lancers of Worcester State University for a MASCAC tilt, starting at 4:00 PM. Owls will travel to UMass Dartmouth on the same date for a conference clash at 4:30 PM.