Vikings Upset Falcons in MASCAC Quarterfinals

Fitchburg, Mass.  – The Fitchburg State men's ice hockey team fell to the Vikings of Salem State University 6-2 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) quarterfinal action on Saturday afternoon at the Wallace Civic Center.

The Basics

Score: #3 Fitchburg State 2, #6 Salem State 6
Records: Fitchburg State (12-11-3) | Salem State (8-18)

How It Happened

Junior Cole Archambeault (Leominster, Mass.) slid a soft pass across the front of the net to a wide-open Toivo Kramer (New York, NY), who deposited his fifth goal of the season past Vikings' netminder Aaron Mercer (Corner Brook, Newfoundland) to give the Green and Gold a 1-0 lead at the 8:23 mark.

With just six ticks left in the first period, Erik Larsson (Lake Tahoe, Calif.) one-timed his sixteenth goal of the season past freshman Max Macchioni (North Kingstown, RI) to knot the score at 1-1.

Sophomore Jack Johansen (Milford, NH) tallied his first collegiate goal early in the second period to forge the Falcons ahead 2-1. Salem notched the equalizer with a 5-on-3 power-play goal from junior David Cicak (Cranford, NJ) at 16:03 of the frame.

The Vikings took the lead (3-2) when senior Connor Wooley (Poghquag, NY) found classmate Matt Yianacopolus (Wakefield, Mass.) open in front of the Falcons net for his sixth goal of the season. Less than two minutes later Wooley added an unassisted goal to push the advantage to 4-2.

Salem would add two more insurance goals resulting in the 6-2 final.

Inside the Numbers

• Salem State held the advantage in shots (33-25)
• Salem was 1-for-5 on the power-play, while the Falcons were 0-for-1 with the man-advantage
• Max Macchioni finished with 24 saves in 53 minutes of action
• Mercer had 23 stops, for the win

Up Next

The Falcons have concluded the 2022-23 campaign. Salem will face the #2 seed Worcester State on Tuesday afternoon.