Box Score NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- Junior Brandon Barillaro (Alexandria, Ont.) scored a pair of first period goals, as Plymouth State captured its fourth straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference ice hockey regular season championship with a 3-1 league victory over UMass Dartmouth Thursday evening at Hetland Arena.
Barillaro provided both of his tallies in the opening 2:14 of action for the visiting Panthers (13-9-2, 13-3-1 MASCAC), as he staked Plymouth State to a 1-0 lead on a pass from junior Brett Backman (Cos Cob, Conn.) and struck again just 18 seconds later on feeds from Backman and junior Jake Gerbner (Havertown, Pa.). Senior Steven Leonard (Rockaway Park, N.Y.) sliced the host Corsairs' (10-11-2, 9-6-1 MASCAC) deficit in half 2:07 into the middle stanza on assists from freshmen Michael Perrone (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) and Austin Miller (Meridian, Idaho), but sophomore Michael McPherson (Somerville, Mass.) restored Plymouth State's two-goal advantage with 7:31 to play in the period on feeds from freshmen Myles Abbate (Norwell, Mass.) and Lukas Holmqvist (Lerum, Sweden) and account for the final margin after a scoreless final frame.
Senior Andreas Pettersson (Trollhattan, Sweden) picked up his 12th win of the season with a 33-save performance in goal for the Panthers, while sophomore Chris Stangarone (White Plains, N.Y.) made 13 stops in the opening 20 minutes between the pipes for UMass Dartmouth. Freshman Daniel Davidson (Surrey, B.C.) registered 22 saves over the final two periods of action for the Corsairs, as Plymouth State held a 38-34 advantage in shots on goal to snap the hosts' five-game winning streak.
UMass Dartmouth travels to Fitchburg, Mass. on Saturday afternoon for a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup with Fitchburg State that faces off at 5:00 pm, while Plymouth State entertains Salem State in its MASCAC regular season finale on Tuesday evening in Plymouth, N.H. that faces off at 6:00 pm.
(Photo Credit: Bruno Pires '21)
