NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - The University of
Massachusetts Dartmouth hockey team exorcised the ghost of their
last loss at the Stephan Hetland Memorial Ice Arena Saturday
evening.
The Corsairs were 28-0-1 in their last 29 games at Hetland since
losing to Plymouth State and goaltender Karl
Helgesson (Lerum, Sweden), 3-2 in overtime on November 19,
2005.They scored four goals against Helgesson in the first two
periods Saturday and defeated the Panthers, 5-2, in an ECAC
Northeast Conference game.
No sooner had UMass Dartmouth raised a banner celebrating last
year's ECAC Northeast championship and NCAA playoff berth than PSU
drew first blood. Senior Topo LaCroix
(Moretown, Vt.) beat junior goaltender Jeff Green (Medway, Mass.)
42 seconds into the game to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
The Corsairs came back, tying the score on the first goal of the
night by freshman Joe Hill (Newburyport, Mass.) at 9:26 and taking
the lead for good when junior Chris Shore (West Haven, Conn.)
scored at 15:08 of the first period. Junior Nick Paquin (Warwick,
R.I.) made it 3-1 with a power play goal 1:01 into the second
period, and Hill's second goal of the night, also on the
power play, extended the Corsairs' lead to 4-1. Sophomore
Dave Dufresne (Dracut, Mass.) scored a power play
goal for the Panthers at 17:20 of the second period to make it 4-2.
The third period was scoreless until PSU pulled Helgesson for an
extra attacker at 18:05 of the third period. Freshman forward Jason
Stahl (Londonderry, N.H.) took a pass from Hill and scored into the
empty net at 18:40 to seal the verdict.
UMass Dartmouth out shot Plymouth State, 39-17, and killed eight of
nine Panther power play chances while converting two of 10
opportunities with a man advantage. Green made 15 saves, while
Helgesson was credited with 34.
The Corsairs improved to 3-0 both overall and in ECAC Northeast
play with the victory, while the Panthers fell to 0-1-1 and 0-1 in
conference action with the defeat.
UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host 11th-ranked
Babson Tuesday. PSU will play Suffolk in the first round of the
PAL/Stovepipe Tournament at Southern New Hampshire next Saturday at
1:00 p.m.
(Courtesy of UMass Dartmouth Sports Information)
-- 30 --
