Falcons Clipped By Lancers, 3-1

Diamont nets fifth tally on the year for Green and Gold

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team suffered a tough 3-1 setback to the Lancers of Worcester State University this evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action from the Wallace Civic Center.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 1, Worcester State 3
Records: Fitchburg State (6-3-0, 4-2-0 MASCAC) | Worcester State (5-6-0, 4-2-0 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Worcester State opened the scoring at the 3:34 mark of the first period when junior forward Brendan Ronan (Saugus, Mass.) gathered a feed from freshman Bridgham Neuhold (Edmund, Okla.) and junior Mike Wilson (Alexandria, Va.) and deposited a shot inside the far post for his fourth marker on the season for the 1-0 edge.

The Lancers doubled their advantage just ten seconds into the middle frame as senior Henry Bruckner (Franklin, Mass.) converted a power-play tally off an assist from Ronan for his second goal of the year to make the score 2-0.

The visitors upped their lead at the 13:34 mark of the middle frame with Ronan collecting a loose puck of his own rebound and slipping a shot into the lower left corner for his second goal of the contest. Fitchburg State nearly answered late in the stanza as junior Hunter Fortin (Westerville, Ohio) skated in on a breakaway, but Lancer keeper Jakub Kubik (Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic) turned the shot aside to preserve the 3-0 margin.

In the final period of play, Fitchburg State broke its scoring silence midway through the stanza when freshman Zackery Diamont (Billerica, Mass.) buried a shot into the right of the net for his fifth score of the 2021-22 campaign with assists from junior Rece Bergeman (Newark, Del.) and newcomer Thomas Harty (Billerica, Mass.) resulting in the 3-1 final.

By the Numbers

• 69th matchup between the two teams with the Falcons 45-20-4 all-time vs. the Lancers
• Worcester State finished with a slim 46-43 margin in shots
• Fitchburg State went 0-for-3 with the man advantage
• Senior Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.) made 33 saves for the Falcons
• Kubik stopped 32 shots for the Lancers

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Tuesday as they travel to New England College to take on the Pilgrims for a non-conference matchup, starting at 7:00 PM. Lancers will host Stonehill College on Friday for a non-conference tilt at 6:50 PM.