By Matt Cook
Sports Editor

The Rams’ ice hockey team picked up their first win on Thursday, 5-3 against Worcester State. On Nov. 22, the ice hockey team was blown out by UMass Boston at home, 9-1. On Tuesday, the Rams played Fitchburg State to a tie.

The game played on Nov. 22 between the Beacons and the Rams was the only meeting of the two teams all season.

UMass Boston opened the scoring early, and would continue piling up the goals.

Jimmy Ennis scored his third on the season for the Beacons just under two minutes into the contest, and Andrew Burke scored his first on the year a little under four minutes later. UMass Boston had the early 2-0 advantage.

Burke’s goal came as a result of a 3-on-2 rush up ice. He shot a rocket past goaltender Todd Rowley, a senior, and beat him top shelf.

Defenseman Corey Chaney, a senior, delivered a huge hit on a Beacon forward to nullify a breakaway bid.

Nearing the 10-minute mark of the first period, Corey Chakeen made it 3-0 in favor of the Beacons, but forward Eric Ward, a sophomore, scored for the Rams 17 seconds later. He was assisted by forward Dan Miressi, also a sophomore.

It was the only goal the Rams would score.

Shortly after the goal, the Rams continued the pressure and almost scored another on a puck that was turned over. Goaltender Alex Scola smothered it between his pads and the post to keep it out of the net.

But before the first 20 minutes concluded, Anthony Fitti would find the back of the net for his third time of the season and the Beacons held the 4-1 lead at the first intermission.

UMass Boston crowded the front of the net and the traffic allowed Fitti to skitter one past Rowley.

At the time, it was just the second instance in which the Rams were trailing after the first period of play.

A minute into the second period of play, UMass tacked on another goal. Before the middle frame was over, the Beacons would score three more times.

In the second frame of regulation, the Rams were playing the body and making huge hits on the Beacons.

The Beacons would close out the contest with Fitti finishing the night with an impressive hat trick to supplement his pair of assists on the night for a five-point performance.

UMass Boston’s power play flourished, going 3-for-4. The Beacons also outshot Framingham by a margin of 50-18.

UMass Boston improved to 2-4-0 with the 9-1 win over Framingham, who dropped to 0-4-0 on the season overall.

On Tuesday, the Rams found some redemption from their 9-1 rout by UMass Boston to tie Fitchburg State, 1-1.

The Rams began the game with many on net and really put the pressure on the Falcons.

Framingham continued to dominate the puck through the second period of play.

Five minutes into the second frame, the Rams hit the post which resulted in a huge scramble in front of the net, but the puck never found its mark.

Framingham was able to throw a lot of pucks out in front, but weren’t able to beat goaltender Bobby Leiser until the third period.

With 2:15 left in the second, Trevor Lawler broke the extensive tie for the Falcons and gave Fitchburg the 1-0 lead heading into the final period of play.

Goaltender Nick Cafrelli, a sophomore, made an outstanding save with 16:43 left to play in the game. The Falcons sensed an open net to Cafrelli’s left side and shot a one timer, but Cafrelli stonewalled Fitchburg and kept the game 1-0.

“If we play like that every game, we will win some games this year,” he said. “It was a good battle by both teams. I feel like I had a solid game, and so did Leiser. We put a full game together, and ended up tying the league champions.”

Cafrelli ended the night with 45 saves.

Shortly after, defenseman Bo Driscoll, a sophomore, sent a missile toward Leiser that blew past him to tie the game with 10 minutes remaining. It was his first of the year.

“The team played real well against Fitchburg,” Driscoll said. “Our game plan going in was to win all the one-on-one battles and be very physical, which we were for the entire game. Coach [T.J.] Brown has been stressing to us how we need to give 100% every shift, and last night’s game was a great example of us doing that. The team is starting to come together, and hopefully this game will give us the spark we need to start getting some wins.”

With 60 seconds left, Framingham was able to score again, but the net was off its pegs before the puck crossed the goal line, and the score was waved off, keeping the game a tie.

In overtime, the Rams continued their pressure and aggression as they battled the Falcons for five minutes before the final whistle brought the contest to a tie.

“We finally came out and implemented our game plan on another team,” said Chaney. “By doing that, we controlled the entire game. Fitchburg State is the reigning MASCAC champion, and we didn’t allow them to get on track. We gave up one goal and came back in the end with a big goal by Driscoll. This was just a glimpse of what we’re capable of when we execute our game plan.”

The Rams went to 0-4-1. Fitchburg had the edge with shots 45-36.

“I feel like we, as a team, are starting to click, and it really showed in the game last night,” said forward Brendan McCarron, a freshman. “We were shooting the puck a lot more and had a lot of energy. Cafrelli also helped us out a lot in net and the team really built off of that.”

On Thursday night, the Rams traveled to Worcester State for a MASCAC battle to decide who would hold the sixth spot in the conference. That position will become even more crucial in the later weeks of the season, as the top six teams of the conference qualify to compete in the MASCAC tournament.

FSU outshot Worcester State 38-32 with a 20-11 edge in the second period.

Forward Dan Miressi, a sophomore had a four-point night with a goal and three assists.  He has three tallies on the year with six assists.

Driscoll also assisted in the game. He has one goal and a pair of assists on the year so far.

Framingham put up their most goals in a win all season and allowed the most goals in a win as they downed Worcester, 5-3, in conference play.

It was the first win of the season for Framingham [1-4-1] and it was also their first victory in the MASCAC [1-2-1]. They are still winless at home in three games, but are 1-2 on the road after the win at Worcester.

Cafrelli was awarded with the win and improved to 1-2-1 on the season.

Last season, it took Framingham 10 games to pick up their first victory. This season, it took them just six.

Framingham will play Worcester State two more times before the 2011-12 season is over.

The Rams host Stonehill on Tuesday for nonconference play at 7:20 p.m. It is their first and only meeting this season.

Ice hockey won their first game of the season on Thursday when they beat Worcester State on the road, 5-3.