Worcester, MA- After over a month away the Worcester State Men's Ice Hockey (4-11, 3-8) team returns to the Fidelity Bank Ice Center. In the Thursday night showdown, the Lancers will be playing host to MASCAC current 3rd seed Fitchburg State Falcons (7-6-2, 6-3-2) in a pivotal conference battle. Worcester looks to rebound from a hard loss versus UMass-Dartmouth last Saturday that saw them gain a point in overtime action but drop to the Corsairs 4-3.

Final

Worcester State: 1

Fitchburg State: 6

The opening period started fast for Worcester State as they grabbed their first goal just four minutes into the period off a shot from junior Brigham Neuhold (Edmond, OK) who was assisted in the action by sophomore Shane Prifrel (Inver Grove Heights, MN) and graduate student Brendan Ronan ( Saugus, MA). The Falcons would not stay down for long though, answering with a goal of their own just a minute and half later off a rebounded put back from first Hunter Dunn (Douglas, MA). The action would then become a stalemate for the next five minutes as each team worked the pucked down the ice until the Falcons found their second goal in the 12' minute of action from first year Alexandre Bauvais (Meudon, FR). The remainder of the game would find each team working to add to their tally, with the Lancers having a flurry of activity late in the period but were unable to find the tying goal before the first intermission.

The second period action started slow for both teams until a Falcons penalty five minutes into the period, followed up by a second not 30 seconds later would provide the Lancers a 5-3 skater advantage. While Worcester fired away in their attempt to tie the game, they were unable to secure the needed goal. Penalties would be the name of the second period as the Lancers picked up some of their own giving the Falcons a chance to build an edge, which they capitalized in the 15' minute off a goal by graduate student Antoine Gignac (Quebec City, CN) on a power play opportunity to push their lead two. The remainder of the period would see a penalty each for both teams, but both were unable to convert for a score sending the teams into the second brea with a 3-1 score in Fitchburg's favor.

The final period of this showdown took off fast for the Falcons as they scored early in this third period with only 2 minutes gone into the third period by the freshman Hunter Dunn (Douglas, MA) giving the extra lead to the Falcons making it 5-1. The remainder of this period would be all about Fitchburg as they grabbed another goal and forced Worcester into two penalties to bring the final score to 6-1.

First year Michal Shaaf (Nashua, NH) and junior Martin Dlugolinsky (Stara Lubovna, Slovakia) would lead the Lancers with four shots a piece as junior Jakub Kubik (Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic) would end the night with 33 saves. 

Worcester State now moves to (4-12, 3-8) while the Falcons now sit at (8-6-2, 6-3-2). Both teams are back in action on Saturday when the Falcons journey to Westfield State for a 5:35pm meeting and Worcester State welcomes Salem State, who they beat 5-2 earlier in the season, to the Ice Center for a 7:20pm drop.