FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology ice hockey team snapped a 1-1 tie with four goals in the third period, en-route to a 5-1 victory over Fitchburg State in non-conference ice hockey action at the Wallace Civic Center in second round action of the 2013 ICFCU Shootout.
Wentworth opened the scoring at the 6:53 mark as sophomore forward Mike Cox (Marlborough, Mass.) knocked home his first marker of the season for the 1-0 lead. Freshman Devin Smith (Tewksbury, Mass.) and junior Beau Burgau (New Ulm, Minn.) assisted on the play.
In the second frame, Fitchburg State tied up the score midway through the stanza when sophomore forward Max Lorenzen (Leesburg, Va.) slide a pass over to classmate John Celli (Leominster, Mass.), who tucked the puck under the crossbar for the power-play tally to make the score 1-1 going into the third period.
The Leopard came out firing in the final period as freshman Robert Mantha (Clarkston, Mich.) connected for his first collegiate tally just 1:16 into the frame. Mantha took a feed from Burgau and buried a shot inside the far post for the 2-1 advantage.
Wentworth upped its lead less than two minutes later when freshman Joe Mottiqua (Cecil, Penn.) struck for his first collegiate score off an assist from junior Seric Kapp (Scheafferstown, Penn.) to make it 3-1. Before the visitors capped the game's scoring on goals by junior Michael Heffner (Lloydminster, Sask.) and freshman Jordan Simmonds (Brighton, Mich.), resulting in the 5-1 final.
Throughout the contest Wentworth held a 50-21 advantage in shots, while the Falcons finished 1-for-5 on the power-play. In goal, junior Ryan Wysocki (Grand Rapids, Mich.) collected 45 saves for Fitchburg State, while counterpart Alex Peck (Kirkland, Que.) finished with 20 stops en-route to his first victory of the season for the Leopards.
Burgau and Heffner each earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
Despite the victory for the Leopards, the Lancers of Worcester State were crowned the 2013 ICFCU Tournament Champions, collecting seven total points on the weekend. Each team was awarded one point for each period won in addition to two points for each victory and one point for each tie. Worcester State opened the tournament with three points, defeating Wentworth in game one Friday night, before posting four points this afternoon with a 3-1 win over Becker College.
Fitchburg State (1-1-0) returns to action on Tuesday at it hosts the Pilgrims of New England College at 7 p.m. Wentworth (1-1-0) will visit Salem State on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
2013-14 IC Federal Credit Union Final Standings
Worcester State (2-0-0) 7 points
Fitchburg State (1-1-0) 6 points
Wentworth (1-1-0) 5 points
Becker (0-2-0) 1 point
2013-14 IC Federal Credit Union All-Tournament Team
BEC freshman F Nickolas McKee (Bakersfield, Calif.)
FIT sophomore F Ryan Connolly (Wappingers Fall, N.Y.)
WOR junior F Nathan Stanley (Meriden, Ida.)
WOR junior F Stephen Rock (Tulsa, Okla.)
WIT junior D Beau Burgau (New Ulm, Minn.)
WIT junior D Michael Heffner (Lloydminster, Sask.)
WOR freshman G Salvatore Tecci (Franklin, Mass.) MVP
(Recap courtesy of Fitchburg State Sports Information)
June 23, 2014
Tolan Steps Down as Head Ice Hockey Coach
June 4, 2014
Hockey Teams Up With St. Baldrick's Foundation
March 14, 2014
ECAC Northeast All-Academic Team Announced
March 8, 2014
Hockey Falls to Nichols in ECACNE Title Game
March 1, 2014
Tolan, McCracken, Burgau Earn ECAC Northeast Accolades
February 27, 2014
ECAC Northeast Tournament Pairings Set
February 22, 2014
Hockey Falls in Regular-Season Finale
February 20, 2014
Hockey Holds on for Second Straight Win
February 15, 2014
Three-Goal Second Period Pushes Hockey Past Becker
February 11, 2014
Hockey Sees Win Streak Come to an End
February 10, 2014
Peck Repeats as ECAC Northeast Goaltender of the Week
January 29, 2014
Hockey Holds on For Second Straight Win
January 25, 2014
Burgau's Overtime Marker Lifts Hockey to 4-3 Win
January 18, 2014
Hockey Draws With Assumption
January 9, 2014
Hockey Suffers 5-1 Setback at Plymouth State
January 3, 2014
Hockey Falls to Salem State
January 2, 2014
Hockey Falls to Colby in Tournament Opener
December 13, 2013
Hockey Closes Out 2013 With Loss at UMass Boston
December 10, 2013
Szerlip Nets Pair in Hockey's Win Over Stonehill
December 1, 2013
Late Goal Lifts Trinity Past Hockey
November 30, 2013
Hockey Ties Wesleyan, 2-2
November 25, 2013
Peck Named ECAC Northeast Goaltender of the Week
November 23, 2013
Hockey Shuts Out Curry to Snap Losing Streak
November 21, 2013
Hockey Doubled up by Western New England
November 16, 2013
Hockey Rally Falls Short in Loss to Nichols
November 12, 2013
Hockey Edges Salve Regina, 2-1
November 9, 2013
Hockey Tripped up in League Opener
November 6, 2013
Salem State Works Overtime in 2-1 Victory over Hockey
November 2, 2013
Third Period Flurry Lifts Hockey to 5-1 Win
November 1, 2013
Hockey Falls in Season Opener
November 1, 2013
Hockey Picked to Repeat in ECAC Northeast Poll