Ice Hockey Soars Past Rams In Non-Conference Action

Six different Falcons net goals

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State men's ice hockey team used a fast start and a four-goal third period to secure a convincing 7-2 win over the Rams of Framingham State on Wednesday night at the Wallace Civic Center.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 7, Framingham State 2 

Records: Fitchburg State (11-5), Framingham State (4-11)

How It Happened

The Falcons struck first and never looked back, jumping out to an early lead against the Rams. Following an offensive-zone faceoff win, newcomer Aleksei Filimonov (Saint Petersburg, Russia) delivered a quick feed to classmate Devin Niles (Hatfield, MA) in the slot, where Niles snapped a wrist shot past the Rams' goaltender for his team-leading 11th goal of the season.

Just two minutes later, the green and gold doubled the advantage. John Mantone (Nashua, NH) forced a turnover at center ice, allowing Nicklas Millhorn (Brownstown, MI) to drive hard to the net and fire a shot that was turned aside by the Rams' goalie. Anthony DeLuca (Andover, MA) was right where he needed to be, corralling the rebound and burying it to make it 2–0 Falcons, marking his second goal of the season.

The visitors cut the deficit in half when Michael Kennedy found the back of the net at the 7:09 mark of the second period.

Fitchburg State responded with a momentum-shifting, short-handed goal from Hunter Dunn (Douglas, MA). Looking to simply burn time off the penalty kill, Dunn skated down the left wing, used the Rams defenseman as a screen, and snapped a shot past the netminder to restore the Falcons' two-goal cushion.

Fitchburg State broke the game open in the final frame, outscoring the Rams 4–1 to pull away. Alexandre Bauvais (Meudon, France) ignited the scoring with a wrist shot from the blue line that beat the Framingham goaltender.

The Rams briefly answered as Devin Shepherd tallied his fifth goal of the season to cut the deficit to 4–2, but the hosts quickly regained control. Trenton Skaggs (Oconomowoc, WI) found the back of the net later in the period, and Devin Niles sealed the victory with his second goal of the night, capping a strong offensive showing for the Falcons.

Inside the Numbers

• Fitchburg State held a 35-25 advantage in shots
• Bauvais added a goal and two assists for the Falcons, while Niles had 2 goals
• Filimonov and Ty Battipaglia (Cheshire, CT) finished with 2 assists
• 15 different Falcons notched at least a point
• Senior Max Macchioni (North Kingstown, RI) stopped  20 shots for the Falcons in 53 minutes of action.

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Saturday, when they host MCLA at 4:00 PM

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