Lancers Draw 5-5 Tie with Fitchburg State

Worcester State 5, Fitchburg State 5  OT

Box Score

Auburn, MA --- Worcester State freshman Cody Warila (Shirley, MA) recorded a pair of assists to help the Lancers erase a third period, three goal deficit as the Lancers finished the contest in a 5-5 tie (in overtime) with Fitchburg State this evening at Horgan Rink in ECAC Northeast play.

With the tie Worcester State’s record now stands at 3-9-1 overall and 1-5-1 in the ECAC NE while Fitchburg moves to 6-6-4 and 3-3-2 in conference play.

With the score 5-2 in favor of the visitors entering the final frame, junior Andy Orsini (Rochester, NY) scored the first goal of the period on helpers from freshman John Cahalane (Tewksbury, MA) and third-year Lee Belisle (Chicopee, MA). Worcester State then clawed their way right back into the game five minutes later when junior captain Mark Rintel (Taunton, MA) registered his third point of the evening.

For the next 12 minutes of play the Lancers kept the pressure on the Falcons throughout the rest of the stanza until WSC opted to call a timeout with 50 seconds left in regulation. With six skaters on the ice, Worcester State found the back of the net and notched the equalizer at 19:26 on a tally by sophomore Chris Wallin (Avon, CT).

The score remained tied through the overtime period with only Fitchburg State having the best opportunity to score on a power-play, but the Lancers held off the extra-man advantage to preserve the final score.

Fitchburg State went up 2-0 over the games first 12 minutes of play on goals by junior Andrew Hutton (Brewster, MA) and senior Wayne Bonkowski (Onstead, NY). WSC ended the stanza cutting the lead in half on an unassisted goal by Rintel, with 42 seconds left in the period.

Hutton and senior Aaron Teinman (Anchorage, AK) scored markers five minutes apart to put the Falcons up 4-1 before Lancer junior Shaun Tribbet (Austin, TX) scooped in his first marker of the season at 14:26 on a dish from Rintel.

Fitchburg State, however, would add an extra goal on a tally by Bob Kaloustian (Marlborough, MA) just as time expired on a power play a minute before time expired in the second stanza of play.

Junior goalkeeper Andrew Evans (Cromwell, CT) collected 39 saves behind the cage for Worcester State while freshman Bobby Leiser (Monroe, NY) finished with 29 stops. Leiser also picked up his first career assist on Bonkowski’s goal in the first period.

Hutton and Rintel each finished their impressive evenings with two goals and an assist for their respective teams while Hutton now has a team-leading 21 points. Rintel and Orsini also now share team lead for markers scored this season with six.

Through the first two periods the Falcons were 3-for-3 on power-play opportunities before getting shutout on their last two attempts.

The Lancers, in the midst hosting their third contest in a six game home-stand, will continue with Stonehill this Saturday at 8:30 while earlier on the same day Fitchburg State will entertain WNEC at 4 o’clock.