BABSON PARK, Mass. – Freshman Anton Nasstrom (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden) tallied his first two career goals and Plymouth State University twice rallied from two-goal deficits, but Babson College scored with just 1:55 left on the clock to sneak away with a 6-5 win over the Panthers in a men's ice hockey game at Babson Skating Center on Friday night.
 
PSU fell behind 3-1 after the first period, but Nasstrom started the comeback as PSU scored two straight to even the score at three early in the second. The Beavers answered with a pair of goals just 25 seconds apart, but Nasstrom lit the lamp again to cut the margin to 5-4 and junior Mike McPherson (Somerville, Mass.) squared the game with less than five minutes left in regulation. Babson would retake the lead for good three minutes later, though, to hand PSU its first loss of the year.
 
With the setback Plymouth State drops to 2-1-0, while the Beavers stay unbeaten at 5-0-0.
 
The Basics:

• Plymouth State 5, Babson 6
  • Plymouth State (2-1-0)
  • Babson (5-0-0)

Three Stars:

• Plymouth State
  • Anton Nasstrom (2 goals, 4 shots)
  • Peter Laviolette (3 asts)
• Babson
  • Ryan Black (2 goals, 1 ast)

How it Happened:

• Plymouth State struck first as senior Jake Gerbner (Havertown, Pa.) forced a turnover at the blue line and cleaned up the rebound off a shot by classmate Peter Laviolette (Brentwood, Tenn.) less than two minutes into the contest.
• Babson answered with three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
• Nasstrom potted his first collegiate goal 5:50 into the second period, and sophomore Myles Abbate (Norwell, Mass.) found the back of the net just 65 seconds later to even the game at 3-3.
• The tie was short-lived, though, as Babson went back ahead three minutes later, and the hosts pushed the lead to 5-3 after cleaning up a rebound 25 seconds later.
• Nasstrom redirected junior Simon Besner's (North Lancaster, Ontario) shot from the blue line at 17:11 of the middle period to leave the Panthers trailing by one, 5-4, heading into the final stanza.
• McPherson knotted the game with his first of the year with 4:55 left in regulation, but the Beavers took the win with a goal in the final two minutes.
• After pulling the goalie, PSU had a two-skater advantage over the final 1:18 but was unable to score the equalizer.

By the Numbers:

• Plymouth State finished with a 46-37 advantage in shots.
• Laviolette picked up three assists, while Besner notched a pair of helpers. Abbate and Gerbner each tallied a goal and an assist in the loss.
• Sophomore Brendahn Brawley (Morton, Pa.) made 31 stops for the Panthers, but fell to 1-1-0, while senior Brad Arvanitis (Holliston, Mass.) made a season-high 41 saves to improve to 4-0-0.
• PSU went 1-of-3 on the power play, while the Beavers were 1-for-2 with the man advantage.
• The two teams have only met three other times prior to tonight, with each winning once and one game ending in a deadlock.

Up Next:

• The teams conclude their two-game series tomorrow (Mar. 6) at Hanaway Rink. Puck-drop is set for 1:00 p.m.