FITCHBURG – Fitchburg State University rallied for three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the Owls of Westfield State 3-1 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play during ‘Pink on the Rink’ at the Wallace Civic Center this evening.
After a scoreless first period of action the Owls jumped out ahead as freshman forward Joseph Napoli received a feed from classmate Johnny Orlando, rifling low and to the corner of the net for his second goal on the year at the 5:20 mark for the 1-0 advantage.
Joseph Napoli scored the Owls lone goal on Saturday night. (Courtesy of Westfield State Sports)
In the third period, the Green and Gold knotted the score (1-1) at the 5:25 mark when senior forward Nat Rojas controlled a rolling rebound off the pads of Jonathan LoParco and ripped his follow-up shot inside the far post of feeds from sophomores James Gordon and Evan Byrnes.
Moments later Fitchburg State grabbed the lead as senior forward John Celli found classmate Ryan Connolly who fired a shot near side for his tenth score on the season for the 2-1 margin.
Westfield State nearly knotted the score with just over a minute remaining in the contest when senior Kyllian Kirkwood and classmate Dalton Jay blasted back-to-back shots on target, but Falcons goaltender Charles Jakobsson was up to the task, turning away both attempts to preserve the 2-1 lead.
Fitchburg State added an insurance goal with 16 seconds left in the contest after the Owls pulled their goalie as junior forward Jon Johannesson converted the empty-netter for his fourth of the year with assists from newcomer Ricky Kramer and senior Mike Morrison, resulting in the 3-1 final.
Throughout the contest, Westfield State held a slim 29-27 advantage in shots, while Fitchburg State finished 0-for-5 on the power-play. In goal, Jakobsson turned away 28 of the 29 shots he faced in the complete game effort, while LoParco made 24 saves in 59:07 minutes of action for the Owls.
Fitchburg State (10-10-1, 7-6-1 MASCAC) returns to the ice on Thursday as it travels to Worcester State for a contest with MASCAC implications starting at 8:30 P.M. Westfield State (11-10, 6-8 MASCAC) hit the road for their second straight to take on UMass Dartmouth in league play on Thursday as well, starting at 7:30 P.M. – Courtesy of Westfield State University Sports
