On Thursday, January 4^th, the MASCAC season got underway again with a rematch between Conference powerhouse Fitchburg State, and the plucky MCLA. The first meeting between these two schools was the home opener for MCLA’s return to action, with the game ending in a 2-2 tie headlined for MCLA by the first goal in twenty years by Connor Nagy and a 40+ save effort from Mathew Gover. This time around, Fitchburg State was able to pick up the win 1-0 on an overtime power play goal scored by Adam Nedelka through a screen, the only one of forty-nine shots that made it to the net to go in. Between the two matchups between these teams, Gover stopped a remarkable 89 of 92 shots, or a 96.7% save percentage, which if these two teams meet again in the first round of the MASCAC tournament this spring, can’t be the most encouraging stat for the Falcons to look at.

               Despite MCLA’s recent struggles offensively, 6 goals in their last 5 games, this was a strong offensive output from the group. On multiple occasions the team had seemingly exorcized their November Demons by effectively hitting outlet passes and working pucks seamlessly through gaps in the neutral zone to create several stellar odd man opportunities. Additionally, they were able to create effective plays around the goal line, forcing Fitchburg State standout Max Macchioni to make several difficult saves from close range. For most of the game the MCLA defense did a great job keeping pucks from getting into high-danger areas, with a handful of exceptions in the 3^rd period, but the defensive effort and results were the best that we’ve seen from this group all season.

               Overall, the Trailblazers got an intraconference point, and should be able to carry confidence into their rematch against a UMass Dartmouth team that picked them apart back at the start of the year. That game, as we’ve mentioned on our social media has been rescheduled to Monday due to the impending snow storm, and should be a phenomenal game of hockey for two teams that have a lot of pride and spots in the MASCAC standings on the line.