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Fitchburg State Downs Salem State, 5-1
February 2, 2013

Fitchburg State Downs Salem State, 5-1

Freshmen forwards Ryan Connolly (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./New York Applecore) and John Celli (Leominster, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors) each registered a pair of goals as Fitchburg State defeated Salem State University, 5-1 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this afternoon at the Wallace Civic Center.

Box Score

Connolly and Celli collect two apiece in Falcons MASCAC victory

FITCHBURG, Mass. (February 2, 2013) – Freshmen forwards Ryan Connolly (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./New York Applecore) and John Celli (Leominster, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors) each registered a pair of goals as Fitchburg State defeated Salem State University, 5-1 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this afternoon at the Wallace Civic Center.

Fitchburg State grabbed the lead just 4:36 into the opening stanza as Connolly fired a one timer past Salem State goaltender Ryan Sutliffe (Las Vegas, NV./Helena Big Horns) for the 1-0 margin. Senior Joesph Caveney (Fitchburg, Mass./New England Jr. Huskies) and sophomore Derek Giansanti (Newington, Conn./Connecticut Jr. Wolfpack) assisted on the play.

In the second frame, Salem State knotted the score (1-1) at the 1:50 mark as sophomore Kristofer Faric (Whitby, ON./Castleton State College) slipped the puck inside the far post for his sixth score of the season off an assist from junior Mark Macdonald (Norwell, Mass./Bridgewater Bandits).

The Falcons regained the lead about three and half minutes later as Celli blasted a slap shot to the upper right corner of the net for his seventh tally of the season using feeds from junior Randy Wolcott (East Haven, Conn./Wisconsin-Stevens Point) and Giansanti to take a 2-1 lead heading into the final period of play.

In the third period, the Green and Gold upped its lead at the 2:11 mark when Celli's wrist shot found the back of the net for his second goal on the night for the 3-1 advantage. The Falcons iced the game on back-to-back tallies from Connolly and classmate Ryan Bedard (Derby Line, Vt./Bay State Breakers), resulting in the 5-1 final.

Throughout the match, Salem State held a 39-28 advantage in shots, while the Falcons finished 2-for-4 on the power-play. Between the pipes, Wolcott collected 38 saves for Fitchburg State in the complete game effort, while Sutliffe stopped 23 shots for the Vikings in the setback.

Fitchburg State (8-10-2, 7-6-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Thursday as it visits the Lancers of Worcester State University for a contest starting at 5:30 p.m. Salem State (10-9-1, 7-5-1 MASCAC) will host UMass Dartmouth on Saturday at 7 p.m.