PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Powered by a strong offensive effort, Plymouth State defeated UMass Dartmouth in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday at Hanaway Rink. The Panthers are now 15-5 overall and 12-1 in conference play, while the Corsairs slip to 9-9-1 and 5-5-1 in the MASCAC with the 10-1 loss.
The Panthers got things going at the 7:19 mark of the opening period as senior right wing Connor Tait tipped home a feed from sophomore left winger David Matousek past Corsairs goalie
Marshall McKallip. Just over three minutes later saw the homestanding Panthers score once more, this time off the stick of rookie left wing Tikhon Ashikhmin at 10:32. Tait pushed the margin to 3-0 as he drove home a pass from junior forward Will Redick past McKallip at 11:01.
The Corsairs had several chances to get on the board as rookie defender
Hunter Scanlon fired in a shot that was turned aside by junior Brandon Shantz at 11:56. Junior right wing and assistant captain
Brandon Clark found himself in a one-on-one with Shantz in the closing seconds, but the Panthers goalie turned aside his point-blank shot at the buzzer.
In the second period of play, the Panthers continued to press and connected at the 5:29 mark as sophomore forward Will Pray chipped a shot past UMD goalie
Graham Burke on the right side. UMass Dartmouth saw junior left wing
Tyler Stewart and sophomore center
Nolan Wutzke both fire in shots at the 8:38 mark, but both were stopped by the PSU defense. The momentum was cut short at 14:17 as the Panthers found the back of the net once again, this time from a tally by rookie right wing Matt Hale for the 5-0 advantage.
The Corsairs battled back on the other end with shots from junior defender
Hank McDonough and sophomore left wing
Luke Jordan turned aside by Shantz within a 10 second window at 16:31. Plymouth would add their sixth tally just over a minute later as Pray netted his second of the contest at 17:35 to close out the scoring in the second period.
In the third period, Plymouth State saw Ashikhmin notch his second of the game at 3:30. The Corsairs gained a power play soon after the home team tally, getting shots on goal by Stewart and junior defender and assistant captain
Lane Ruffner that were once again turned aside by Shantz.
Plymouth State tacked on two more goals, but the Corsairs got a penalty shot opportunity at the mid-way point as Stewart was taken down in front of the goal. Despite a good attempt coming in on the left side, his shot was once again saved by Shantz.
The Corsairs got on the board at the 14:36 mark as a quick pass from McDonough in the Corsairs zone found Scanlon in the neutral zone. The defender made his way into the left circle, sending a puck in that rebounded out to Wutzke for the backhanded shot into the open right side of the net.
UMass Dartmouth had several other chances on the power play late as Stewart fired in a pair of shots that were saved by Shantz but were unable to light the lamp before time expired.
In goal for the Corsairs, McKallip shouldered the loss, recording six saves before giving way to Burke, who made 38 saves. Rookie netminder
Ethan Labbe came on midway through the third period, allowing one goal with three saves on the night.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the ice on Thursday, traveling to Salem State for a 7pm game against the Vikings.
