Fitchburg State Clipped By UMass Dartmouth, 2-1
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team suffered a tough 2-1 setback to the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Hetland Arena.
Gordon nets lone goal for Falcons in MASCAC setback
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team suffered a tough 2-1 setback to the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Hetland Arena.
Following a scoreless first period, UMass Dartmouth opened the scoring just 2:50 into the frame as freshman forward Steven Leonard collected a feed from newcomer Jeff Kirkwood and slipped the puck into the back of the net for his third tally on the year for the 1-0 lead.
The Corsairs doubled their margin at the 11:52 mark of the second period when sophomore forward Brendan McDonough connected on his third tally of the season off assists from junior Jerry Laakso and Leonard to make the score 2-0 after 40 minutes of play.
In the third stanza, Fitchburg State broke its scoring silence roughly six minutes into the period as junior forward James Gordon converted on the power-play, blasting a shot into the right side of the net for his fifth marker of the 2016-17 campaign.
With time winding down, the Green and Gold nearly knotted the score late in the contest when senior Cameron Snyder and sophomore Connor McPherson put back-to-back shots on frame, but Corsair keeper Drew Michals was up to the task, turning aside both shots, resulting in the 2-1 final.
Throughout the game, Fitchburg State held a 36-30 advantage in shots, while the Corsairs finished 1-for-6 on the power-play. In goal, sophomore Kirby Saari made 28 saves for the Falcons in 59:05 minutes of action, while Michals stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced for UMass Dartmouth in the complete game effort.
Fitchburg State (4-5-1, 3-2-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Saturday as it travels to Franklin Pierce to take on the Ravens for a contest starting at 7:30 p.m. UMass Dartmouth (6-4-0, 3-2-0 MASCAC) will host the Rams of Framingham State at 4 p.m.
