Fitchburg State Doubles Up Ice Hockey, 6-3

Fitchburg, MA --- Six different players tallied markers for Fitchburg State and Craig Halpin (Irvington, NY/New York Applecore) handed out three assists as the Falcons doubled up Worcester State, 6-3, in MASCAC men's ice hockey action this evening at the Wallace Civic Center.

Fitchburg State (6-7-2, 4-3-1 MASCAC) took the early 2-0 lead with a pair of markers in the opening frame.

Junior Ryan Connolly (Wappingers Falls, NY/New York Applecore) wristed his sixth of the season at the 8:55 mark before sophomore Jon Johannesson (Red Lake, Ontario/Yarmouth Mariners) potted his fourth six minutes later.

The Lancers (3-9-2, 2-5-1) responded when senior Cody Osburn (Sacramento, CA/Fresno Monsters) dumped in his first goal of the season off an assist by classmate Nathan Stanley (Meriden, ID/Idaho Jr Steelheads) on a five-on-three power play near the midway point in the second.

Freshman Alex Pommerville (Macedon, NY/Salt Lake City Moose) recorded his first collegiate tally to equalize the game with some help by junior Crissostomos Villarreal (Corona, CA/Space Coast Hurricanes) with 9:34 left in the middle stanza.

But Fitchburg State came back and scored twice before the end of the period for the 4-2 advantage.

Johannesson and Halpin aided junior Paul Fanga (E. Haven, CT/Trinity Pawling) as 5:37 remained in the second before Halpin and Connolly distributed the eventual game-winning goal with 11.1 ticks on the clock to senior Sean Leobs (Cresskill, NJ/Connecticut Jr. Wolfpack) on a tip-in.

Halpin recorded his third helper on the first goal of the third period to junior John Celli (Leominster, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors) for his sixth of the campaign.

Stanley helped WSU answer to make the score 5-3 as sophomore Michael Dery (Grand Rapids, MI/Ogden Mustangs) and senior Stephen Rock (Tulsa, OK/Idaho Jr. Steelheads) with 3:26 remaining in regulation and the extra man advantage.

The Lancers pulled their goalie in an attempt to get something going, but the Falcons scooped up a loose puck and junior Stephen Carlette (Cheshire, CT/Hartford Jr. Wolfpack) had an empty netter for the final score.

Senior Ryan Wysocki (Grand Rapids, MI/Toledo Cherokee) turned aside 35 shots in the victory as his record moves to 5-7-2. Freshman Tyler Fallica (Coram, NY/Ogden Mustangs) stopped 24 shots in the setback while he drops to 1-2-1 overall.

WSU actually outshot their opponents 38-30 – including a 29-20 edge in the final two periods alone.

The visitors entered the contest five power play goals for the season were 2-for-6 with the extra man advantage while the FSU converted one of their three tries.

Both squads return to the ice on Thursday. Worcester State travels to Framingham State for a 7:40 matchup on the road while Fitchburg State heads to Westfield State in a 7:35 PM clash.