49ers ice Fullerton

By Marten Lewerth
Daily Forty-Niner

The 49er ice hockey team dropped the puck on the 2000-2001 season with an 8-1 rout over Cal State Fullerton Saturday at Lakewood Glacial Gardens.

Rookie Ryan Scott scored twice off assists from Dominic Catanzarite as the 49ers used a combination of speed and grit to overwhelm a physical Titan squad in the opening period.

"We jumped on them early," said first-year Coach John Cacciatore. "Off the opening face-off, we set a quick tempo and kept it down in their end."

The 49ers built on their lead with a two-man power play midway through the second period when Scott Yeske dished a pass from the right boards to Tony Mutalpassi camped in front of the Titan net.

Joseph Rizzo stretched the lead to 4-0 at 4:14 when he kicked his own rebound out of the air to the right of Fullerton's goalie and tapped the puck past the sprawling netminder.

"It was fully planned," Rizzo joked later. "No, I was just batting at it, hoping to hit it."

Marcel Young made it 5-0 when he skated out from behind the Titan net and scored on a wrister with less than 20 seconds remaining in the second period.

Frustrations mounted for Fullerton early in the third period when one of their defensemen inadvertently scored a goal for LBSU.

Any hopes for a shutout evaporated with a Titan goal at 14:54, but the 49ers rallied 40 seconds later when Josh Harper extended the lead to 7-1.

Flagrant penalties and heated altercations culminating in player ejection marked the final 15 minutes of the game.

"We kind of let things slip away in the third period," Cacciatore said. "I was just trying to calm them down and let the other team lose the game."

Josh Harper capped scoring on a breakaway rush at 7:08, as the 49ers beat the Titans by a final score of 8-1.