Ice Hockey Shutout at Fitchburg State

Fitchburg, Mass. – Senior forward Ryan Connolly registered a  pair of goals to lift the Fitchburg State University ice hockey team to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Rams of Framingham State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this evening at the Wallace Civic Center.

Fitchburg State took the lead at the 9:01 mark of the first period as senior forward Ryan Connolly wristed a shot into the left side of the net for his team-leading seventh tally on the year on an assist from newcomer Ricky Kramer for the 1-0 margin.

The Green and Gold doubled their advantage with just over three minutes remaining in the frame when Connolly redirected a shot off the stick of freshman Connor McPherson for his second goal of the contest.

The Falcons upped its lead to 3-0 just 16 seconds later as freshman forward Nick DiNicola gathered a feed from McPherson and sophomore James Gordon and fired a shot into the back of the net for his fifth goal of season.

Following a scoreless second period, Framingham State nearly broke its scoring silence 52 seconds into the third stanza when sophomore forward Tyler Colacchio and classmate Jake McKinnon put back-to-back shots on frame, only to have Falcons netminder Charles Jakobsson turn away both shots to preserve the 3-0 lead.

Fitchburg State secured its sixth win at the 17:32 mark as freshman forward Michael Fretz received a pass from senior John Celli and DiNicola and deposited the puck into the back of the net of his seventh score on the year, resulting in the 4-0 final.

Throughout the contest, Framingham State held a 41-26 margin in shots, while the Falcons finished 0-for-1 on the power-play. In goal, Jakobsson set a new career high with 41 saves en-route to his first collegiate shutout for Fitchburg State, while junior Alessio Muggli stopped 22 shots for the Rams.

Fitchburg State (6-7-1, 3-3-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Thursday as it travels to Westfield State University for a contest starting at 7:35 p.m. Framingham State 2-10-0, 1-6-0 MASCAC) will visit Worcester State University on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

Release courtesy of Fitchburg State Sports Information