Owls Fall at Fitchburg, 6-3

Spencer DeRidder netted a pair of goals, but the Owls were defeated by the Falcons

Westfield St.

7-5-2, 2-3-2

Fitchburg St.

9-4-0, 7-2-0

Final	1	2	3	T
Westfield St. 7-5-2, 2-3-2	0	1	2	3
Fitchburg St. 9-4-0, 7-2-0	1	1	4	6

Team captains John-Michael DiGregorio (right) and Zachary Cormier (left) drop puck in opening ceremony.

Scoring Summary

1st - 07:28 - Zackery Diamont (Fitchburg St.)

2nd - 00:54 - PP - Rece Bergeman (Fitchburg St.)

2nd - 04:53 - Jason Diamond (Westfield St.)

3rd - 01:36 - Paul Frys (Westfield St.)

3rd - 09:55 - Toivo Kramer (Fitchburg St.)

3rd - 14:07 - Cole Archambeault (Fitchburg St.)

3rd - 14:37 - Joshua Miller (Fitchburg St.)

3rd - 14:58 - Spencer DeRidder (Westfield St.)

3rd - 17:39 - Anthony Ceolin (Fitchburg St.)

Game Leaders

Westfield St.

G: 3 Players (#14, #16, #20) - 1

A: Jake Ratcliffe - 2

Sh: Jake Ratcliffe - 5

Sv: Valtteri Valtonen - 45

Fitchburg St.

G: 6 Players (#4, #10, #11, #13, #15, #19) - 1

A: 2 Players (#16, #26) - 2

Sh: Zackery Diamont - 8

Sv: Brian McGrath - 23

Team Stats

Game Statistics	Westfield St.	Fitchburg St.
PowerPlays	0 for 4	1 for 5
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	5 (10)	4 (8)
Shots on Goal	26	51
Face Offs Won	30	25

Full stats

January 22, 2022

Fitchburg, Mass. – Westfield State junior Spencer DeRidder (Fairport, N.Y.) scored a pair of goals, but the Owls would fall, 6-3, to Fitchburg State on a Saturday afternoon at the Wallace Civic Center. Prior to the start of the game, Jake Thibeault, a member of the local hockey community, dropped the opening face-off. Thibeault, a Fitchburg native and a member of the Milton Academy hockey team, was left paralyzed from the waist down after an on-ice accident in September.

Fitchburg earned the early lead in the first frame as freshman Zackery Diamont (Billerica, Mass.) put back a rebound off the initial shot from junior Joshua Miller (Saint Augustine, Fla) for his sixth goal of the season.

In the second frame, junior Rece Bergeman (Newark, Del) doubled the Falcons margin (2-0) with a power-play goal less than a minute into the second period.

The Owls would score the next two to knot the score at 2-all. First, senior Jason Diamond (Lakeville, Conn.) notched his fourth of the season from sophomore Ryan Candia (Woolwich Township, NJ) at the four-minute mark of the second. Just 1:36 into the third period, the game was tied as DeRidder scored his first goal of the season.

The Falcons would control the game moving forward. First-year Toivo Kramer (New York, NY) would break the tie with a goal midway through the third frame. Then, in a span of 30 seconds sophomore Cole Archambeault (Leominster, Mass.) and Joshua Miller would tip the twine to push the lead to 5-2. DeRidder would net his second goal of the game off an assist by sophomore Tom Sköld (Jarna, Sweden) to cut the deficit to two with five minutes remaining in the game. The Falcons would answer shortly after to put the game away as Anthony Ceolin (Simsbury, Conn.) pushed the Falcon lead back up to three.

Owls goalie Valtteri Valtonen (Helsinki, Finland) stopped 45 shots as the Falcons doubled the Owls in shots on net (51-26). Falcons net-minder Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.) had 23 saves for his seventh win of the season.

Westfield State (7-5-2, 2-3-2 MASCAC) will stay on the road as the Owls visit Salem State on Tuesday at 3:00 P.M. Fitchburg State (9-4, 7-2 MASCAC) will host Framingham State on Tuesday at 3:30 P.M.