HENNIKER, N.H. - The New England College men's ice hockey team battled back to force overtime against Fitchburg State on a third period goal by sophomore Egor Osipik (Minsk, Belarus), part of a two-goal night for Osipik, but the Pilgrims eventually fell in OT to the Falcons, 4-3.
Osipik scored his first goal of the night, and second of the season, just 53 seconds into the game. Fresh off a faceoff on the opposite end, freshman Matteo Viglino (Davos, Switzerland) received the puck around his own blue line and found Osipik on the fast-break for the one-timer. Freshman Jack Brennan (Hingham, Mass.) was credited with the secondary assist – his third of the season.
The Falcons received the game's first power-play opportunity with seven minutes left in the first period, and Fitchburg would convert with just 13 seconds left on the penalty. Devin Niles, the team's leading scorer, capped off the power-play with his ninth goal of the season after a flurry of Falcons' shots.
In the second period, the Pilgrims would re-take the lead 5:44 into the period as freshman Jack Ohlund (Lakeville, Minn.) netted his second score of the season on a nifty shot from behind the Fitchburg net. Freshman Serafin Hoerl (Innsbruck, Austria) and junior Christophe Petit (Chelsea, Quebec) were each credited with their first assists of the season.
Fitchburg State would have an immediate response as they scored the equalizer just 18 seconds after Ohlund's goal. Niles scored his second goal of the game, capitalizing off a Pilgrims turnover to tie the game at 2-2. Later in the second, the Falcons would take the lead on a goal from Jacob Trowt with 4:56 left in the period.
Osipik came through with the equalizer for the 'Grims at the 15:26 mark in the third period off another pass from Viglino for his fifth career two-goal game. Junior Martins Leps (Riga, Latvia) earned his first point of the season with the secondary assist on the game-tying goal that would send the game to overtime.
Playing their first overtime game of the season, the Pilgrims were quickly put at a disadvantage as a penalty 1:03 into the extra period gave the Falcons a 4-3 opportunity. The 'Grims managed to kill the penalty but would concede the game-winner to Nicklas Millhorn who capitalized on a 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper off a turnover.
Sophomore Vladmir Maksimov (Yaroslavl, Russia) made his collegiate debut in net for the 'Grims, making 25 saves. In front of him, Petit had a remarkable game with nine blocked shots – a new single-game high for the junior. He is up to 28 blocked shots on the season which is the second most in the Little East.
The 'Grims play one more game before Winter break, heading to Anna Maria on Friday for a 5:40 PM tilt at Horgan Arena in Paxton, Massachusetts.
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