NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Despite the third hat trick of the year from senior
Tyler Stewart, UMass Dartmouth was unable to get past Plymouth State on Saturday afternoon, falling in Little East action at Hetland Arena. The Panthers move to 12-9-1 with a 9-5-1 mark in conference play with the 6-3 win, while the Corsairs are now 10-11-0 and 5-9-0 in the LEC.
Trailing by a 2-0 margin into the second period, the Corsairs pulled even as Stewart – an assistant captain and winger – converted a quick pass from junior winger
Alex Walker at 11:36. Senior defender
Hank McDonough earned the secondary assist on the play.
The Corsairs pulled even at 15:13 as Stewart this time converted the rebound of a
Hunter Scanlon shot past the reach of the Panthers goalie for the 2-2 equalizer. Walker nabbed his second assist on the play.
Despite the momentum, the Panthers took a 3-2 lead into the third period as Will Redick scored at 17:30 for the one-goal advantage after 40 minutes of action.
Into the third period of play, the visitors tacked on two goals through the opening 11 minutes of play, but Stewart secured the hat trick as he buried a quick pass from rookie winger
Chris Cardillo with classmate and center
Kailin Chen earning the secondary assist at 15:51 on the power play.
Plymouth State added a final goal – an empty netter – to conclude the game's scoring.
The Corsairs saw Chen post a 13-28 mark in the face-off circle, while Scanlon led the way with five of the squad's 22 blocked shots. For Stewart, it marked his third hat trick of the season and second in the last three weeks of action. In goal, senior
Marshall McKallip shouldered the loss, stopping 44 total shots, including 17 in the first, 15 in the second and 12 in the third.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action next weekend, traveling to Southern Maine and Babson College on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (4pm).
