FITCHBURG, Mass. – Marcus Chrisafideis scored twice while Chase Carney added a goal and two assists as the Keene State College men's ice hockey team pulled away for a 4-0 road win over Fitchburg State University on Sunday night at the Wallace Civic Center in the final game of the calendar year for both teams.

The Owls (5-5-1) closed 2024 on a high note, winning three consecutive games for the first time and scoring 16 goals in the process.  KSC entered off a home 4-3 overtime win over 9-3-0 St. Michael's College on Saturday, and followed it up by beating a Falcons (7-2-0) team that had won seven of their eight games and three in a row with their only loss coming in overtime at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.  The Owls are back at .500 for the first time since a November 12 overtime win at Southern New Hampshire University moved them to 2-2-1.

KSC relied on goalie Ben Skelton early, as he made six saves in the opening 6:36 before the Owls registered their first official shot attempt at the 7:20 mark.  He would go on to record his first career shutout and bettered his season save percentage to .913, backed by a late second period goal that gave Keene State a lead before a three-goal outburst in the third.

The Owls needed their netminder in a big way early, as Fitchburg State carried the play in the opening period, outshooting the Owls 14-6 including 12-2 over the first 15 minutes, but Skelton stopped all of them.  The Falcons' late push right before the intermission resulted in three more saves and a blocked shot apiece by Sean Gray and Chrisafideis, keeping the game scoreless into the second.  KSC blocked 10 shots on the night (to just one for Fitchburg), including three more in the opening 5:25 out of the first intermission locker room.  The home team's best chance to score came as they pushed on a power play midway through the period, but Nicholas Weber rang the iron.

From that point forward, Keene State took over and never looked back.  Initially they could not solve Falcons goalie Alexander Falkenhagen, who made eight saves in a five minute span including three when KSC had a power play opportunity that began with 6:55 to go.  The Owls wound up breaking through with under a minute to go in the period when Carney broke into the zone and carried around Christian Halbig as he moved below the right faceoff dot before backhanding a centering pass that Chrisafideis skated onto and rifled past Falkenhagen with Jeremy Maillet draped on his right side.  KSC would carry that 1-0 lead into the second intermission, outshooting FSU 13-8 in the period.

The top line helped double the lead a little over eight minutes into the third, just seconds into a 4-on-4 situation as Carney won a faceoff over to Chrisafideis, who wheeled toward the blue line away from the goal before moving back in and sniping a shot stick side on Falkenhagen for a 2-0 lead with 11:40 to go.  KSC iced the game by scoring a power play goal seven minutes later when Fitchburg could not clear the zone, with Gray collecting and finding Corey Tumenas near the faceoff dot, who set up an uncovered Carney with a perfect pass by the far post for a tap-in goal to a nearly wide open net to make it 3-0.  Filip Tjarnhell tacked on a short-handed goal with a little over two minutes to go to send KSC into the holiday break happy, polishing off a 2-on-1 chance with Michael Boschetto after Maillet whiffed on a shot on the other end.

The Owls outshot the Falcons 26-17 over the game's final 45 minutes while posting their largest margin of victory this season.

"I think these two wins (this weekend) have been our two best games of the season," said Keene State head coach Bobby Rodrigue.  "Very good progress for our young team.  We are proud of them and love that they got to experience this kind of success heading into the break."

Chrisafideis and Carney, who accounted for three of the Owls' four goals on the night, have emerged as key pieces of KSC's future as they head into the Little East Conference next season.  Chrisafideis now has a team-leading 11 goals and 16 points on the season, recording four multi-goal games, while Carney has three goals in his last three games and a three-game point streak while also leading the Owls with a plus-13 rating.

"Marcus' energy is absolutely contagious," said Rodrigue.  "Guys play better by following his lead.  He draws so much attention from opponents, which creates space and opportunities for his teammates."

"Chase has quietly gotten stronger each game that he has played.  He has certainly been our most complete player, especially in these last three wins."

The Owls are off until January 3 when they travel to the State University of New York at Plattsburgh (5-5-0, 3-3-0 SUNYAC) for a 7:00 p.m. start.  The Cardinals downed Buffalo State 4-1 in a league game on the road on Saturday in their final action before the break, but have alternated wins and losses over their past eight games after beginning the season ranked ninth in the country.  Fitchburg State will take on the University of Wisconsin-Superior (6-3-1, 3-1-0 WIAC) on January 3 at 4:00 p.m. as part of the 59th annual Codfish Bowl hosted by the University of Massachusetts-Boston after the host Beacons take on UMass-Dartmouth.