Falcons Soar Past Corsairs

Fortin and Harty net two goals each for Green and Gold

New Bedford, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team defeated the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth, 5-1 this evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action from the Hetland Rink.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 5, UMass Dartmouth 1
Records: Fitchburg State (14-5-0, 12-3-0 MASCAC) UMass Darmouth (8-10-1, 5-7-1 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State opened the scoring 3:23 into the first period as junior Hunter Fortin (Westerville, Ohio) settled a loose puck in front of the net off a shot from classmate Wyatt Wilmshurst (Massena, N.Y.) and tucked a shot inside the far post for his team leading 11th tally on the season for the 1-0 edge.

The Falcons doubled their margin (2-0) at the 12:01 mark when Fortin converted with the man advantage, firing a shot from the circle into the back of the net for his second tally of the contest with assists from freshman Thomas Harty (Billerica, Mass.) and junior Adam Kusior (Tecumseh, Ont.).

In the middle stanza, the Green and Gold upped its lead roughly six minutes into the period with senior Brian Glover (Baldwinville, Mass.) collected a feed from junior Rece Bergeman (Newark, Del.) and Fortin, who deposited the puck into the left side of the net for his first goal of the 2021-22 campaign for the 3-0 margin.

UMass Dartmouth cut into the deficit with just under two minutes remaining in the second frame as graduate student Melker Kroon (Malmo, Sweden) settled a feed from sophomore Cade Hanley (Bozeman, Mont.) and junior Jake Maynard (St. John, Ind.) and found the back of the net for his fifth score on the year to make the score 3-1 going into the third period of play.

In the final period, Fitchburg State extended its advantage at the 7:21 mark as Harty tucked a shot into the near side of the net for his fifth marker of the year before Harty notched his second tally on the night, converting a power-play attempt ten minutes later as newcomer Zackery Diamont (Billerica, Mass.) added an assist, resulting in the 5-1 final.

By the Numbers

• 84h meeting between the Falcons and Corsairs on the ice with Fitchburg State 33-43-8 all time when taking on UMass Dartmouth
• Fitchburg State finished with a narrow 32-30 margin in shots
• UMass Dartmouth went 0-for-2 with the man advantage
• Senior Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.) turned aside 29 shots for the Falcons
• Graduate Parker Butler (Summit, N.J.) made 27 saves for the Corsairs

Up Next

Both returns return to action on Thursday as the Falcons hosts the Corsairs in a MASCAC tilt, starting at 6:30 PM.