FITCHBURG – Sometimes with a young team there is a learning curve and mistakes are made, but those lessons will come in time. A solid foundation and strong will is something that is inherent.
The Fitchburg State University men’s ice hockey team made its fair share of miscues on Saturday evening, but the desire to win never wavered. The Falcons played catch-up the entire game, but despite forcing two ties in the contest – after a two-goal deficit to start – the hosts couldn’t get over the hump, as they settled for a hard-fought 4-4 tie with Westfield State University at the Wallace Civic Center.
“We’ve got a young team and they’re going to make mistakes,” Fitchburg State head coach Dean Fuller said. “We had some huge ones here tonight. But we kept grinding and got back into it. I’m pleased with the team, and we’re getting better every game, and hopefully these will be wins (during) the second half of the year.”
The Falcons committed six penalties in the game, with all but one coming in the first two periods, as they dug themselves an early hole. The sixth penalty in the third was the costliest, as it wiped out a Falcon power play with the game tied and just 4:05 left in regulation.
Fitchburg State (4-1-1, 2-1-1 MASCAC) outshot Westfield State (2-3-2, 2-1-1 MASCAC) the entire game, finishing with a commanding 47-31 advantage. But even in the beginning, as the Owls found themselves on the losing end of the shooting battle, the visitors seemed to capitalize on opportunistic plays.
Just 2:26 into the content, Francois-Xavier Girard floated a wrister from the top of the left circle that pinged in top shelf to get the Owls on the board in the blink of an eye.
Fitchburg State controlled possession in the Owls’ zone, racking up the majority of the scoring opportunities for the rest of the period, until the 16:43 mark, when the hosts embarked on a power play.
A little less than a minute into the power play, Westfield cleared the puck into the Falcons’ zone. A Falcon defenseman scaled the right boards and attempted a haphazard crossing pass at his own blue line to his fellow defenseman at the left boards.
Westfield’s Justin Alves seized the opportunity, stealing the puck at the midway point and skating in for the short-handed, backhanded, breakaway goal to make it 2-0 Westfield at the 17:21 mark of the first period.
Fitchburg State maintained its attack to open the second period, and with 8:18 left started picking up the intensity with the awarding of a power play. Brian Glover took a nasty slap shot from the point to begin the pressure, and Rece Bergeman’s ricochet deflected a little too close for comfort.
On the next possession down, the Falcons used some crisp passing to try to frazzle Westfield netminder Thierry Messervier. The culmination of the effort came with 7:15 remaining, when Ryan Murphy sent a wrister from the left circle to the top-right corner, getting the Falcons on the board.
The thrill of pulling closer did not last for the Falcons, as just 1:06 later Westfield’s Jake Ratcliffe flung a lead pass to Daniel Backstrom in the neutral zone. Backstrom split two Falcon defenders on his way to a breakaway goal to make the Owls’ advantage 3-1.
The final minutes of the second period were just as eventful, with the Falcons reestablishing their momentum. With 3:30 left until the second break, Murphy scaled the left side, pulled himself and the puck around the net and deposited it in the right side to cut the deficit to 3-2.
With 2:06 left, Fitchburg State’s Dean Zerby won a faceoff in the Westfield zone, slid it to Murphy at the right wing, who sent it back to the left point. Geoffrey LaMorre received the puck and rifled a nasty slap shot that struck gold, and evened the battle at 3-3.
Fitchburg State committed two penalties following the tying marker, which would come back to bite the hosts at the start of the third period.
In the final seconds of the power play, Girard sent a pretty pass from behind the net to Robert Neuwirth. As Neuwirth glided toward the net in traffic, he managed to release a shot, despite almost falling to a knee, which flew home to give the Owls the lead back at 4-3 just 34 seconds into the third.
Fitchburg State would get the equalizer with 13:25 left in regulation as Hunter Fortin took a slapper from the outside. Opportunistically, Wyatt Wilmshurst stationed himself at the left post, and was in perfect position to receive and stuff home the kick save, at a completely uncovered side of the net, which tied it at 4-4.
With 4:04 remaining, opportunity came knocking as the Owls committed a penalty. But after the whistle on the play, a Falcon forward cross-checked an Owl, negating the power play and forcing a 4-on-4.
Scoring chances were slim from there until the final seconds of overtime, as Glover offered a dangerous slapshot from the point in some heavy screening traffic with 30 seconds left. Christopher Vicario and Bergeman unsuccessfully attempted to stuff the puck in from the doorstep with about 10 seconds remaining.