NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Behind goals from six different scorers over the final two periods, Plymouth State University defeated UMass Dartmouth, 6-2 in MASCAC men's hockey action on Thursday at Hetland Arena. The #14 Panthers move to 20-2-2 overall with a 17-1-2 mark in conference play, while the Corsairs slip to 14-10-0 and 12-8-0 in the MASCAC.
After a scoreless opening period of play, the Panthers struck first as the nation's leading scorer, Will Redick, buried the puck past Corsairs goalie
Daniel Davidson at 1:04 of the second stanza. The visitors made it a 2-0 advantage nine minutes later as winger Connor Tait connected on a pass from linemate Redick, who was fed from fellow winger Will Pray for the score at 10:33.
The Corsairs pulled to within one less than a minute later as a pass from sophomore winger
Tyler Stewart saw classmate and wing
Kevin Johnston bank it in past Kalle Andersson on the other end. Rookie center
Connor Little was credited with the secondary assist.
Plymouth State added to its lead at 17:56 as wing David Matousek dropped in a shot from defenseman Colin Tracy as the visitors took a 3-1 lead into the final period of play.
Out of the intermission, the Panthers struck once again, this time at 1:24 of the frame as center Cameron Patton drove home a quick shot from the right circle off a pass from linemate Patrick O'Connell for the 4-1 score.
Plymouth State opened the margin to four goals (5-1) at 12:14 as Ethan Stuckless buried a feed from Payton Schaly. The Corsairs rebounded as rookie defender
Nolan Wutzke snuck the puck past Andersson through a screen in front off of assists from rookies
Alex Walker and
Collin Patterson.
It was the Panthers who concluded the scoring, taking advantage on the empty net as Pray scored off a pass from the slot by Redick for the 6-2 final score at 18:34.
Redick went 12-18 in the faceoff circle, while center Jeromey Rancourt was 13-18 on the draw. Andersson posted the victory in goal, recording 23 stops.
For the Corsairs, Davidson shouldered the loss in his return to the ice, posting 37 saves on the night.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the ice on Saturday, traveling to Westfield State for a 5:35pm tilt against the Owls in the regular season MASCAC finale for both teams.
