MARLBORO, Mass. - Plymouth State University made a pair of first period goals stand up Sunday night, defeating Becker College 2-1 in a non-conference men's ice hockey game at the New England Sports Center.

            It was the first game in over three weeks for the Panthers, who improved to 3-4-2 overall.  Becker, which started 2008 with a loss Friday to Franklin Pierce, fell to 4-8-0 overall.  The two teams will play again in New Hampshire on Jan. 19 in the official ECAC Northeast Conference match-up.

            The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period.  Senior Deni Bojadzic (Gothenburg, Sweden) opened the scoring with his second of the season at 2:51, with senior Topo LaCroix (Moretown, Vt.) assisting, and sophomore Chris Chambers (Crofton, Md.) tallied his second of the year at 11:49, with an assist from senior Nate Gardner (Manchester, N.H.)

            The game remained 2-0 for the next 42 minutes until Becker got on the board with a power play goal by Jared Kersner (Rockville, Md.) at 14:22 of the third period.  The Hawks finished the game 1-for-8 on the power play, while the Panthers were 0-for-2.

            Freshman goaltender Kevin Crosby (Farmington, Conn.) did the rest for the Panthers. Making his first collegiate appearance, Crosby made 28 saves, including seven in the third period to post the victory.  Sophomore Tony Stoehr (De Pere, Wis.) made 32 saves for the Hawks.

            The Panthers return home to host Western New England College Wednesday at Waterville Valley in an ECAC Northeast Conference contest (6:00 p.m.)  Becker continues its four-game homestand Friday and Saturday with non-conference games against Lebanon Valley College.

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