PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Sophomore
Ethan Stuckless (Conception Bay South, Newfoundland) scored a pair of goals as Plymouth State University flew past Worcester State University, 7-3, in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey game at Hanaway Rink on Saturday night.
PSU scored in the final seconds of the opening period, then bombarded Worcester State with a four-goal outburst in the middle stanza to take a commanding 5-0 lead into the second intermission. The teams traded goals to open the third, before the Lancers attempted a late comeback bid with two goals in a 31-second span.
Plymouth State slammed the door, though, with junior
Brett Lockhart (Braintree, Mass.) putting the exclamation point on the win with an empty net goal from behind his own goal line to account for the 7-3 final score.
Plymouth State wins its third straight to move to 4-2-1 and stay unbeaten (4-0-0) in the MASCAC, while Worcester State dips to 2-4-0 and 2-1-0 in league play.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 7, Worcester State 3
- Plymouth State (4-2-1, 4-0-0 MASCAC)
- Worcester State (2-4-0, 2-1-0 MASCAC)
How it Happened:
- With time expiring in the opening period, senior Niks Krollis (Riga, Latvia) knocked down a clear attempt at the blue line and snapped a wrist shot on target. The Worcester State goaltender was unable to glove it cleanly and junior Carson Lanceleve (Stewiacke, Nova Scotia) was there to flip the rebound into the open goal with less than a second remaining on the clock.
- PSU doubled the lead just 23 seconds into the second period when sophomore Anton Jellvik (Taby, Sweden) skated up the left side during a 2-on-1 and his wrist shot from the left faceoff dot found the back of the net during a delayed penalty.
- The Panthers made it 3-0 just 2:24 later when freshman Rider McCallum (Langley, British Columbia) took a feed from senior Kyler Harding (Wilmington, N.C.) and whipped a wrist shot to the glove side for his first career goal, forcing a Lancers' timeout and goalie change.
- PSU continued to pile on as Stuckless joined the party with a shorthanded goal at 4:55. He broke up a pass at the PSU blue line and skated in alone, firing his shot through the new goaltender for a 4-0 lead.
- Stuckless potted his second of the game with 8:31 left in the middle stanza. Sophomore Dante Moretti (Powell, Ohio) sent a feed from behind the Worcester State goal to Stuckless in the slot, who beat the goalie high to the stick side.
- The Lancers spoiled the shutout bid midway through the third period during a four-on-four when a skater knocked home the rebound of a shot from just inside the blue line.
- PSU answered right back as junior Jeromey Rancourt (Lewiston, Maine) banged in the rebound of a close-range shot by sophomore Connor Tait (Boyds, Md.) during a power play to make it 6-1 with 7:14 remaining.
- The visitors made it 6-2 during a 3-on-2 break when a backhanded shot snuck through senior Brendahn Brawley (Morton, Pa.), and moments later, with a power play and extra skater on the ice, the Lancers added another to cut the margin to 6-3 with 4:35 to go.
- Worcester State had a chance to cut into the deficit further on an extended power play with the extra skater still on the ice, but Lockhart flipped the puck down the ice from behind the PSU goal line for a long empty net goal to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Lanceleve picked up his team-leading sixth goal of the season. He extends his season-opening points streak to seven consecutive games.
- Stuckless scored his second and third goals of the year and is second on the team with nine points.
- McCallum and Rancourt also had multi-point games with a goal and assist each.
- Brawley finished with 28 saves.
- Eight different Panthers recorded assists, while 12 players registered points.
- Plymouth State outshot the Lancers by a 72-54 margin.
- PSU was 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Panthers' penalty kill unit was fantastic. Plymouth State held the Lancers to 1-of-10 with the man advantage and added a pair of short-handed goals.
- The Panthers improve to 17-2-1 against Worcester State since the 2015-16 season, and 54-11-5 all time.
Up Next:
- PSU heads to Utica, N.Y. for the Delta by Marriott Thanksgiving Showcase next weekend. The Panthers open the tournament against #6 Utica on Friday (Nov. 25) at 7:00 p.m.
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