WATERVILLE VALLEY, N.H. - Freshman Sean Buckley (Sagamore, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal with 5:30 remaining in the third period Wednesday evening as Plymouth State University held off Franklin Pierce College and escaped with a 3-2 victory in an ECAC Northeast Conference game at Waterville Valley Arena.

         Buckley and sophomore Dave Dufresne (Dracut, Mass.) each finished with a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who won for just the second time in their last six games.  PSU is now 9-11-3 overall and in ninth place in the ECAC Northeast with a 6-6-2 mark, while Franklin Pierce is now 6-17-0 overall and 4-11-0 in conference play.

         Dufresne scored the only goal of the first period for PSU at the 15:10 mark, his eighth of the season.  Senior Trevor Clark (Randolph, Mass.) tied the game at 1-1 for the Ravens with his first of the year four minutes into the second period, but senior Topo LaCroix (Moretown, Vt.) gave PSU the lead back at 8:42, and it was 2-1 Panthers after two.

         Sophomore Casey Goodell (Rochester, N.H.) tallied a power play goal for Franklin Pierce midway through the third period to knot the game at 2-2, but Buckley slid one under sophomore goalie Jon Tuttle (Concord, N.H.) from the slot for the eventual game-winner at 14:30.

         Senior Karl Helgesson (Lerum, Sweden) made 29 saves to earn the win in the Panther goal, while Tuttle finished with 30 saves for the Ravens.

         PSU plays its final two regular season games on the road, this Saturday at Worcester State (4:30 p.m.) and next Wednesday in a make-up game at Suffolk (6:25 p.m.)  Franklin Pierce wraps up its regular season this Saturday at Southern New Hampshire (4:30 p.m.)

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