Ice Hockey Falls In UBS Opener, 7-1 

FITCHBURG, Mass. –  Fitchburg State College scored a pair of first-period goals en-route to a 7-1 victory over Worcester State College in the opening round of the UBS Classic Friday night at Landry Arena on the campus of Fitchburg State College.

Fitchburg advances to the UBS final and will tangle with Assumption at (7:00 pm) while the Lancers will battle Suffolk in the consolation game at 4:00 pm. Assumption defeated Suffolk, 6-3, in the other first round game.

The Falcons jumped out to an early 2-0 first-period advantage on goals by Stephen Schofield (Valley Villiage, CA/Bay State Breakers) and Ryan Howe (Fitchburg, MA/Fitchburg). John Goffredo (Washingtonville, NY/Boston Harbor Wolves) and Chris Riggs (Sewell, NJ/Ft. Vancouver Pioneers) assisted on the Schofield tally while John Coutts (Milford, CT/Kent School) and Ryan Tierney (Newburyport, MA/Brewster Academy) assisted on the Howe goal.

The Falcons capitalized on the power play early in the second period to make it a 3-0 cushion after Goffredo scored on the man advantage from Billy Pescosolido (Framingham, MA/Walpole Express) and Schofield.

The Lancers got on the board four minutes into the second when Billy O’Neill (Wayne, PA/Valley Forge Minutemen) broke through the Fitchburg goal. Nathan Peerreault (Smithfield, RI/Bridgewater Bandits) and Mark Rintel (Queens, NY/Santa Fe Roadrunners) assisted on the tally.

Fitchburg picked up their second power play goal of the night on an Andrew Hutton (Brewster, MA/Boston Harbor Wolves) goal assisted by Aaron Tiernan (Anchorage, AK/Central Texas Marshals) and Pescosolido for a 4-1 cushion at 18:01.

The Falcons added to their lead 1:33 into the third when Hutton set up Matt Arsenault (Gardner, MA/Gardner) for a 5-1 Fitchburg lead. Andrew Jones (Franklin, MA/Walpole Express) and Howe rounded out the scoring for the 7-1 victory. Zach Kulpa (Mentor, OH/Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks) and Chris Fraterrigo (Laguna Hills, CA/Bay City Bombers) added the helpers on the Jones goal while Christopher Brecken (Hudson, MA/Hudson) assisted on the Howe tally.

FSC netminder Devan McConnell (Lake Stevens, WA/St Louis Jr. Blues) turned away 17 shots in goal while Lancer keeper Jason Richardson (Perkasie, PA/Wyoming Seminary) made 41 stops.

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 Box Score