BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward Trevor Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass.) and junior forward Kirk Threlkeld (Centerville, Ohio) scored a goal and added three assists each to help pace the Fitchburg State hockey team to a come-from-behind, 8-6 win over Wentworth in the first game of the 46th Annual Codfish Bowl, played at the University of Massachusetts Boston's Clark Athletic Center. While the two teams combined for 14 goals, no player on either side had more than one tally for the contest.
The Falcons scored a pair of goals in a span of just over two minutes to take an early lead. At 6:27, senior defenseman Billy Pesocosolido (Framingham, Mass.) scored a power play goal from Threlkeld to give Fitchburg a 1-0 lead. The extra-man goal was the first allowed by Wentworth in the Leopards' last 35 shorthanded attempts. At 8:46, Threlkeld was set up by Lawler and senior forward Chris Riggs (Swewll, N.J.), increasing the lead to 2-0.
However, the Leopards countered with three straight goals to close the period. Sophomore forward Joel Vastl (North Salem, N.H.) scored on a long pass from classmate Mike Marrocco (Braintree, Mass.) at 13:49 to cut the lead in half before freshman forward Matthew Dozois (Manotick, Ont.) tied the game after he was set up by classmates Andrew Moscardelli (Pearl River, N.Y.) and Nick Chiappetta (Mississauga, Ont.) at 17:44. With three seconds left in the period, junior forward Casey Shade (Anchorage, Alaska) scored from classmate Tyler Monteros (Diamond Bar, Calif.) and sophomore forward Anthony Principato (Holmdel, N.J.) to give Wentworth a 3-2 lead.
Principato extended the lead to 4-2, 54 seconds into the middle stanza when Shade and freshman forward Cory Lillie (East Hampton, N.Y.) assisted on his sixth marker of the season. The Falcons cut the lead to 4-3 on a Riggs goal at 8:11, before junior forward Cory Callen (Annadale, N.J.) tied the game at 12:23. A minute and 35 seconds later, Wentworth went ahead, 5-4, on a junior forward Mike Paglino (Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.) goal, and would hold the lead entering the third period.
Threlkeld and Lawler set up senior defenseman Erik Trahan (Manville, R.I.) 43 seconds into the third period to begin a four-goal period for Fitchburg State and at 9:03, Lawler scored from Riggs to give the Falcons a lead they would not relinquish. Callen and Pescosolido assisted on senior forward Andrew Jones' (Franklin, Mass.) goal at 12:51 that extended the lead to 7-5 before junior forward Thomas McAleer (East Islip, N.Y.) scored a shorthanded goal from Lawler to give Fitchburg State a three-goal cushion. With 24 seconds left, Marrocco scored on the power play, from Dozois, to cut the final margin to 8-6.
Dozois finished with a goal and a pair of assists, while Prinicpato , Marrocco, and Shade, each tallied a goal and an assist. Freshman Chris Azzano (Oshawa, Ont.) made 25 saves for the Leopards.
Junior Bobby Leiser (Monroe, N.Y.) picked up the win for Fitchburg State, making 20 saves over the final two periods of play. Senior Robert Vorse (Leominster, Mass.) allowed three goals on 13 shots in the first period. Wentworth held a 36-33 shot advantage for the game.
With the win, Fitchburg State improves to 6-3-0 and plays UMass Boston, a 6-1 winner over Assumption, tomorrow (Dec. 30) at 5:00 p.m. Wentworth sees its three-game win streak and five-game unbeaten streak come to a close as the Leopards fall to 5-4-2. Wentworth will play in the consolation game against Assumtpion tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.
