Worcester State 5, Fitchburg State 5 OT
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.