FITCHBURG, Mass. – Junior Georgy Gorodetsky (Yekaterinburg, Russia) recorded a hat trick and three other skaters reordered two points apiece as the Wentworth Institute of Technology ice hockey team rallied past Fitchburg State, 7-5, in non-conference action Saturday afternoon.
With the win, their first of 2019, the Leopards improve to 5-7-4 on the season while the Falcons fall to 7-6-2. Wentworth battled back from a pair of deficits in this game. The first came after falling behind 2-0 when the Black & Gold evened the score at 2-all and the second came when Wentworth used four unanswered goals to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
The hosts scored at 14:13 of the opening period as senior Patrick Germain (Auburn, Mass.) netted a shorthanded goal from junior Joshua Suboyu (Newton, N.J.) and junior Dean Zerby (Harrisburg, Pa.). That goal was the lone goal of the period, a period which saw the Falcons have a slight, 12-11 edge in shots.
Sophomore Sacha Figi (Kloten, Switzerland) scored the first of his game-high four goals at the 2:48 mark of the middle stanza as he put home an unassisted marker to kick off a period which saw the two teams combine for six goals. Junior Connor Beaudet (Buffalo, N.Y.) made it a 2-1 game when he scored on the power play from sophomore Dante Flori (Watertown, Mass.) and junior Drew DiGeronimo (Fitchburg, Mass.) at 5:45, Just 19 seconds later Gorodetsky potted his first of the game, which was set up by juniors Nate Chase (Plainfield, Ill.) and Connor Busch (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) and evened the score at 2-all.
Figi connected on the power play from seniors Nick DiNicola (Wolcott, Conn.) and Connor McPherson (Clovis, Calif.) at 13:09 of the period to give Fitchburg State a 3-2 lead, however, the lead was short-lived as senior Jonny Spada (Glen Rock, N.J.) scored 1:35 later from freshman Jake McKenelley (Middleton, Mass.) and sophomore Jake Hallisey (Quincy, Mass.) to even the score for the second time in the contest. Gorodetsky gave Wentworth the lead for good when he scored from senior Paul Filippone, III (Cranston, R.I.) with 2:04 left in the period. Wentworth had a 14-6 advantage in shots in the second period.
The Leopards added to their lead with a pair of goals spaced 7:43 apart in the third period. Gorodetsky completed his hat trick just 1:05 into the period when he made it 5-3 with a goal from Chase and Beaudet. At 8:48, Filippone, III scored what would be the game-winning goal when he tallied an unassisted marker.
Fitchburg State would not go away as Figi scored a pair of goals, including an extra-attacker goal, in a span of 2:48. His first came from DiNicola on the power play at 16:07, while DiNicola and junior Chris Vicario (Cranston, R.I.) set him up at 18:55. In an empty-net situation, senior Angus Johnston (Calgary, Alta.) iced the game for the Leopards with an unassisted tally with 25 seconds left.
In addition to Gorodetsky's three points on the night, Beaudet (one goal, one assist), Filippone, III (one goal, one assist), and Chase (two assists) each had multiple-point nights.
Freshman Ryan Bonnvie (Falmouth, Maine) improved to 2-0 on the season, making 22 saves. Fitchburg State freshman Matthew Stephan (Ridge, N.Y.) made 26 saves in the loss. Wentworth had a 33-27 shot advantage.
Wentworth resumes Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Friday night, hosting No. 12/12 Salve Regina at 7:00 p.m.
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