Box Score (Box
Score)
SALEM,
Mass. - Second-seeded Salem State College scored four
unanswered goals in the first period Thursday evening and never
looked back en route to a 6-1 victory over third-seeded Plymouth
State University in the semifinals of the Massachusetts State
College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey tournament.
The Vikings,
14-8-4, advance to the championship game Saturday at top-seeded
Fitchburg State College. The Falcons earned their bid in the final
Thursday with a 3-2 win over fifth-seeded UMass Dartmouth.
Plymouth State ends its season at 17-9-1.
Salem State got
goals from six different players but the four-goal outburst in the
first period proved to be the difference. Freshman Nick
Lampson (Groton, Mass.) opened the scoring with his 17th
of the year at 4:28, and classmate Dennis Crocker (Wakefield) made
it 2-0 less than two minutes later. Freshman Dan Rowland
(Waltham, Mass.) extended the lead to 3-0 at the 15:11 mark, and
sophomore Ian Flanagan (New Hampton, N.H.) followed with a power
play goal at 18:42 to make it a four-goal margin after one.
The second
period was scoreless until sophomore Brian Kriner
(Newport, R.I.) put the Panthers on the board with his
17th of the season with just 1:43 remaining. That
ended up as the extent of the PSU offense, while freshman Casey
Terreri (Warwick, R.I.) and senior Chris MacInnis (Waltham, Mass.)
added third period goals to seal the win for the Vikings.
Salem State
doubled up Plymouth in the shots on goal department, 42-21.
Sophomore Sam Avoine (Ste-Perpetue, Que.) made 20 saves to earn the
victory in the Viking goal.
Plymouth
State's 17 wins this season is the second-highest single-season
mark in school history, and the first winning season since going
16-9-1 in 2005-06. Thursday's game also marked the final game for
PSU senior Chris Chambers (Crofton, Md.), who
finishes his career third on the all-time scoring list with 58
goals, 59 assists for 117 points in 99 games.
--- 30 ---
