FITCHBURG, Mass. – Powered by a two-goal second period and solid defense late in the third, Fitchburg State recorded a 4-2 win over UMass Dartmouth in MASCAC men's hockey action on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons move to 11-8-2 overall and 10-5-2 in conference play, while the Corsairs are now 12-9-0 with a 10-7-0 record in the MASCAC.
The Falcons jumped out to the 1-0 lead at 17:29 of the opening frame as a shot by Hunter Dunn from the left circle was kick-saved by Corsairs goalie
Marshall McKallip. The puck rebounded out in front as Kristopher Zapata came crashing in, tipping it into the open right corner of the net.
Early in the second stanza, the home team made it a 2-0 advantage as a shot from the left point by Antoine Gignac came in on goal at 5:06. A screen in front by a Falcons player took away McKallip's site line, going in for the tally as Alexandre Bauvais and Toivo Kramer earned the assists.
The Corsairs bounced back at the 10:00 mark as rookie center
Connor Little picked up the loose puck in the left circle, dropping it back to the middle. Sophomore winger
Brandon Clark got his stick on it, deflecting it back to senior defender
Cade Hanley at the top of the right circle as he fired it in over the right shoulder of Frederick Soderberg.
Despite the momentum, including a 5-on-3 advantage which saw UMass Dartmouth bank in four shots on goal, the Corsairs could not solve the Falcons netminder and Fitchburg State went right back down the ice as Samuel Rennick slid through the middle and fired a shot five-hole on McKallip for a 3-1 lead at 13:45.
UMass Dartmouth had an outstanding opportunity to pull back in as sophomore winger
Kevin Johnston came into the Falcons zone on a penalty kill breakaway with seven seconds to go. Soderberg held strong, making an outstanding glove save to send the home team into the second intermission with the 3-1 advantage.
Beautiful save by McKallip early in the third as Zapata had him dead to rights at the left post, getting the leg pads down to stuff the Falcons player. Despite the strong plays, the Falcons were able to add to their lead at 12:11 on the power play. Collecting a pass from Cole Archambeault, Jeremy Maillet navigated through the slot, faking a shot to the right to draw McKallip out of position as he banked it into the open left side.
The Corsairs pulled it back to within two at 14:10 as a fantastic individual effort from sophomore winger
Tyler Stewart saw him skate through the left circle, banking the puck into the top right corner over the reach of Soderberg. Senior defender
Stephon Perreault earned the lone assist on the goal after firing the puck up and off the boards to Stewart from deep in the UMD zone.
With 3:48 remaining and a player headed to the penalty box for the Fitchburg, the Corsairs pulled McKallip in favor of the extra attacker. UMass Dartmouth fired in a number of shots, but could not punch one in. The Corsairs continued with the empty net over the final two minutes, but the Falcons defense continued to hold strong.
The Corsairs owned a 32-25 advantage in shots, also leading on the face-off by a 36-33 margin. In the Fitchburg net, Soderberg posted 30 saves, while McKallip recorded 21 stops in the loss.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the ice on Thursday, traveling to Worcester State for a 5:50pm MASCAC tilt against the Lancers.
