{"id":88560,"date":"2018-10-24T18:36:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T23:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=88560"},"modified":"2020-08-24T14:15:03","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T19:15:03","slug":"fitchburg-state-looks-to-repeat-in-mascac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/10\/24\/fitchburg-state-looks-to-repeat-in-mascac\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitchburg State looks to repeat in MASCAC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sascha<\/a>
Sascha Figi of Fitchburg State (Frank Poulin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After several years where the conference championship had been decided between Plymouth State and Salem State, a new contender emerged last year to win the title and trip to the NCAA tournament. Coach Dean Fuller and his Fitchburg State Falcons went unbeaten from February 1 on to win the conference title before bowing out to Nichols in the first round of the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

The league has great balance overall, so a number of contenders look to challenge the defending champs for this year’s crown.<\/p>\n

The Favorites<\/strong>
\nThe defending champions have a solid nucleus of players returning, including forward Nick DiNicola, last year’s conference rookie of the year, and Sascha Figi and Tyler Warila, who were the top three point-getters for Fitchburg State last season. Sophomore Brian McGrath returns in goal and looks to build on his outstanding freshman season that included 10 wins and two shutouts.<\/p>\n

Plymouth State will be right there challenging Fitchburg State, as the Panthers return a veteran squad that was won before. The seniors will be looking to repeat that feeling in their last go-round this season. Ryan Stevens and Matt Volonnino lead an experienced forward group, while senior Evan Morelli will likely be a workhorse in the crease for coach Craig Russell.<\/p>\n

The Dark Horse<\/strong>
\nLast year saw Worcester State emerge as a contender under coach Shayne Toporowski. Led by forward Mike Moran and goaltender Josh Reinstein, the Lancers will need to stay healthy if they want a strong second half and challenge at the top of the standings.<\/p>\n

USCHO Predicted Finish<\/strong>
\n1) Fitchburg State
\n2) Plymouth State
\n3) UMass-Dartmouth
\n4) Worcester State
\n5) Salem State
\n6) Westfield State
\n7) Framingham State<\/p>\n

Players to Watch<\/strong>
\nFitchburg State: Nick DiNicola -\u2013 forward; Brian McGrath — goaltender
\nFramingham State: Mike Bailey — coach; Walker Hamilton — defenseman
\nUMass\u2013Dartmouth: Jonathan Ruiz -\u2013 forward; Brendan McDonough — forward
\nPlymouth State: Ryan Stevens -\u2013 forward; Tim Perron — defense
\nSalem State: Callum Hofford \u2013- defense; Parker Wood — forward
\nWestfield State: Therry Messervier -\u2013 goaltender; Francis-Xavier Girard — forward
\nWorcester State: Mike Moran -\u2013 forward; Josh Reinstein — goaltender<\/p>\n

The balance in this league has improved immensely over the past several seasons, and there are no nights off in league play. Some young rosters like Bill O’Neill’s at Salem State could find themselves right in the mix if they mature quickly. Look for the MASCAC battle to go right to the end of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fitchburg State broke the hegemony of the MASCAC last year and won the league title, and looks poised to repeat. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":111370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[666],"tags":[820],"coauthors":[822],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFitchburg State looks to repeat in MASCAC - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fitchburg State broke the hegemony of the MASCAC last year and won the league title, and looks poised to repeat.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88560\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fitchburg State looks to repeat in MASCAC - 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