Fitchburg State Falls To Westfield State, 6-5

Lawler, Callen and Costigan pace Falcons with two points apiece

FITCHBURG, Mass. (December 3, 2009) - The Fitchburg State ice hockey team suffered a tough conference setback in nail-biting fashion this evening, falling to Westfield State College, 6-5 in MASCAC action.

TUCKER CALLEN

Trailing 5-3 with three minutes remaining in the contest, Fitchburg State rallied back from its two goal deficit, posting a pair of goals in a span of 11 seconds to knot the score (5-5). Freshman Chris Costigan (Salem, N.H./Northern Cyclones) and sophomore Thomas McAleer (East Islip, N.Y./New York Bobcats) generated the Falcons comeback with back-to-back goals at the 17:26 mark, but Westfield State's Danny Kaufman (Scotch Plains, N.J./Northern Cyclones) had the final answer, netting the game-winning goal with 0:15 remaining in regulation.

Fitchburg State opened the scoring just 3:12 into the game on freshman Tucker Callen's (Annadale, N.H./Wagner) second goal of the year, but Westfield State would grab a 2-1 lead at the first intermission with two scores midway through the period. Senior Mike Muolo (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) put the Owls on the board with his third score of the season at the 8:47 mark, while sophomore Pat Nelson (Cary, N.C./Queen City) gave Westfield State its first lead just 1:11 later.

In the second period, Westfield State increased its margin to three (4-1) as senior Casey Mignone (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) rifled off two consecutive scores early in the frame, but Fitchburg State inched closer (4-2) on freshman John Vets's (Hamden, Conn./Hartford Jr. Wolfpack) team-leading fourth goal of the season with 3:10 remaining in the period.

Westfield State maintained its two goal advantage for most of the third period, but Fitchburg State came firing back with its third-frame, scoring surge. Costigan and McAleer ignited the Falcons rally, netting similar shots to the top-left corner of the net, but Kaufman ended the Falcons comeback trail moments later, sealing the Owls victory with his second score of the season.

Westfield State sophomore Jimmy Alexander (Braintree, Mass./Bay State Breakers) and Mignone led all game-scorers with three points apiece, while freshman Trevor Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass./New England Jr. Huskies), Callen, and Costigan each tallied two for the Falcons. Senior Robert Vorse (Leominster, Mass./Bay State Breakers) collected 18 saves in net for Fitchburg State, while senior Ray Monroe (Shrewsbury, Mass./Springfield Jr. Falcons) stopped 27 shots for the visitors.  

Fitchburg State (2-2-1, 1-2-0 MASCAC) will be in action again on Saturday as it hosts Worcester State College at 4 p.m. Westfield State (4-0-1, 2-0-1 MASCAC) will host Salem State College on Saturday at 5:35 p.m.

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Westfield State 6, Fitchburg State 5

Scoring
First Period: FIT: Tucker Callen (Trevor Lawler), 3:12; WES: Mike Muolo (Jimmy Alexander, Steve Plancey), 8:47; WES: Pat Nelson (Dennis Zak, Jason Nelson), 9:58;
Second Period: WES: Casey Mignone (Dave Ciminelli, Alexander), 1:14; WES: Mignone (Alexander, Danny Kaufman), 4;43; FIT: John Vets (Lawler, Kris Threlkeld), 16:50;
Third Period: FIT: Travis Bertolotti (Callen), 9:42; WES: Zak (P. Nelson, Dylan Scanlon), 16:55; FIT: Chris Costigan (Justin Quinn, Billy Pescosolido), 17:15; FIT: Thomas McAleer (Costigan, Erik Trahan), 17:26; WES: Kaufman (Mignone, Lucas Romero), 19:45;
Goaltending: FIT: Bobby Vorse (59:45), 18 saves; WES: Ray Monroe (60:00), 27 saves;
Shots: FIT: 32; WES: 24