Jamie DiGiulio makes 28 saves, Sean Staid scores two goals as ice hockey stops Fitchburg State, 4-3

February 8, 2008

ASSUMPTION 4, FITCHBURG STATE 3

WORCESTER, Mass. --- The Assumption College ice hockey team scored three third-period goals and backboned by the 28-save goalkeeping of sophomore JAMIE DI GIULIO (Peabody, MA/Tilton School, NH) defeated Fitchburg State College, 4-3, in a non-conference game THURSDAY night at the Buffone Rink.

The win snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Greyhounds, now 6-15. It also stymied Fitchburg State Coach Dean Fuller's attempt at win No. 400 in his 24-year career. Fitchburg State is now 9-8-3.

Senior center MATT PAGET (Hingham, MA/Hingham/Winchendon School) scored the key goal, his fourth of the season, in the contest on the power-play giving the Ice Dogs a 3-2 lead with 5:47 left to play. Paget's goal came following an end-to-end rush by freshman defenseman TODD DAVIS (Ann Arbor, MI/Orchard Lake-St. Mary's/Holderness School).

Senior left wing SEAN STAID (Peabody, MA/St. Mary's/Northfield Mt. Hermon) scored his second goal of the game and fifth of the season 58 seconds later to make it 4-2---the eventual official game-winner since the Falcons would get an extra-man goal with 10 seconds left in the game. Senior center MIKE RUST (Laguna Niguel, CA/Cushing Academy) and sophomore defenseman JON RETELLE (Monmouth, ME/Kents Hill) both got assists on the goal coming a wild scramble in front of the net.

Falcons' freshman forward JOHN GOFFREDO (Washingtonville, NY/Boston Harbor Wolves) scored at 19:50 to account for the final.

DiGiulio made 12 saves in a second period dominated by the Falcons, while senior DEVAN MC CONNELL (Lake Stevens, WA/St. Louis Jr. Blues) made 23 stops for Fitchburg State.

The teams battled to a 1-1 tie after one period as the Falcons took a quick 1-0 lead at 5:48 of the period as freshman ZACH KULPA (Mentor, OH/Cleveland Junior Lumberjacks) beat DiGiulio to the glove side. Staid tied the game at 16:55 on feeds from sophomore forward FRANK BOVA (Princeton, MA/Wachusett) and freshman defenseman MARC LABB (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow/Vermont Academy).

The Falcons would take a 2-1 lead scoring the lone goal of the second period. Junior forward BOB KALOUSIAN (Marlboro, MA/Marlboro) scored his fourth of the season on a backhander past a fallen DiGiulio from a tough angle. Freshman forward CHRIS RIGGS (Sewell, NJ/Fort Vancouver Pioneers) and sophomore forward ANDREW HUTTON (Brewster, MA/Boston Harbor Wolves) assisted on the goal.

Davis tied the game 3:13 into the third period, his first career goal, set up by sophomore left wing ATTE UOLA (Turku, Finland/Holderness School) and senior right wing PATRICK CIUMMO (Harrisville, RI/Mt. St. Charles/Winchendon School). His hard shot from the blue line was screened by several players in front of McConnell.

Fuller, now 399-203-31, failed in his third attempt to record his 400th win. Fitchburg State tied Western New England, 3-3, before losing to UMass-Dartmouth, 6-1, Saturday. They host Suffolk at 7 p.m. SATURDAY.

The Ice Dogs play at Stonehill College SATURDAY in a Northeast-10 Conference game. That game is slated at the Bridgewater Ice Arena at 1:40 p.m.

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