PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior Simon Besner (North Lancaster, Ontario) and senior JR Barone (West Chester, Pa.) each notched a goal and an assist and Plymouth State University scored four unanswered goals to erase an early deficit as the Panthers topped Anna Maria College, 4-1, in a men's ice hockey game at Hanaway Rink on Friday evening.
 
Playing for the first time since capturing a second straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) tournament title 342 days ago, PSU went 3-of-6 on the power play to turn a 1-0 first period deficit into a victory.
 
Prior to the contest Plymouth State honored its five seniors in a brief on-ice ceremony. Barone, Peter Laviolette (Brentwood, Tenn.), Jake Gerbner (Havertown, Pa.), Brandon Barillaro (Alexandria, Ontario) and Brett Backman (Cos Cob, Conn.) were all recognized for their contributions to the program.
 
Plymouth State wins its season opener to move to 1-0-0, while the AMCATS fall to 0-1-0.
 
The Basics:

• Plymouth State 4, Anna Maria 1
  • Plymouth State (1-0-0)
  • Anna Maria (0-1-0)

Top Performers:

• Plymouth State
  • Simon Besner (goal, asst)
  • JR Barone (goal, asst)
  • Peter Laviolette (2 assts)
  • Mike McPherson (2 assts)

How it Happened:

• Plymouth State kept steady zone pressure to open the game, but it was Anna Maria that struck first when junior Sam Cyr-Ledoux (Montreal, Quebec) slipped past a Panther defender and whipped a wrist shot into the bottom right corner at 12:05.
• The AMCATS would retain the lead until 5:59 of the second period, when sophomore Jovan Zimmerman (Boulder, Colo.) tallied his first goal in a Panther uniform to square the game at 1-1.
• Besner put Plymouth State ahead at 11:05 of the period when his one-timer from the blue line made it through traffic and into the back of the net while on the man-advantage.
• Barone gave PSU some breathing room just nine seconds into the Panthers' next power play opportunity as his wrister from the top of the left circle beat the AMCATS goalie to the blocker side with 1:31 left in the middle stanza.
• Sophomore Jacob Laurin (Stockholm, Sweden) capped the scoring with PSU's third power play tally of the evening. Junior Mike McPherson (Somerville, Mass.) slipped a pass to the front of the net and Laurin fired the puck to the bottom right corner from his knees midway through the third period.

By the Numbers:

• Sophomore Brendahn Brawley (Morton, Pa.) made 28 stops to pick up his first career win, while AMCATS goaltender, junior Julius Huset (Oakdale, Minn.) also stopped 28 shots.
• PSU went 3-of-6 on the power play, while the AMCATS were held scoreless on seven opportunities.
• The Panthers held a 32-29 advantage in shots.
• The only other meeting between the teams resulted in a 3-3 tie in a game at Hanaway Rink on Dec. 5, 2019.

Up Next:

• The two teams complete the home-and-home series tomorrow (Feb. 13) when they square off at Anna Maria's Horgan Arena. Puck-drop is set for 5:40 p.m.