Final Stats
FITCHBURG, MA-Junior forward Dave McDonald (Wakefield, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors-EJHL) and freshman forward Cody Gut (Chichester, MA/Boston Jr. Bulldogs-AtJHL) scored twice within 1:20 early in the third period and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's hockey team held on to defeat host Fitchburg State, 3-2, in a Massachusetts Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Wallace Civic Center Saturday.
McDonald took the puck along the boards and beat Fitchburg State goaltender Bobby Leiser with a shot high to the glove side at 4:46 of the third period. Gut made it 3-1 at 6:06 when a shot hit him in front of the net and deflected in. Trevor Lawler scored for the Falcons at 9:07 after FSU won a face-off in the UMD zone, but the Corsairs held Fitchburg State off the rest of the way.
Thomas McAleer gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead when he scored on a three on two rush at 17:05 of the first period. Junior forward Phil Bronner (Wilbraham, MA/Springfield Jr. Falcons-EJHL) tied it when he flipped home a rebound at 4:30 of the second period.
"We played great, and this was a very important win for us on the road," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach John Rolli. "We came back from being down, 1-0 in the first period, went up at 3-1, and played good, sound fundamental hockey. This gives us three wins in a row, and we're 3-0-1 in the league."
The Corsairs outshot the Falcons, 31-26. UMD junior goalie Ryan Williams (Milton, ON/Huntsville Otters-OPJHL) made 24 saves, while Leiser stopped 28 shots.
UMass Dartmouth improved to 5-2-1 and 3-0-1 in the MASCAC with the victory, while Fitchburg State fell to 2-5-1 and 1-3-1 in the MASCAC with the defeat. UMD will return to action when they visit Plymouth State next Thursday.
