PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Sophomore
Connor Tait (Boyds, Md.) and freshman
Rider McCallum (Langley, British Columbia) each scored twice to lead Plymouth State University past New England College, 6-3, in a non-conference men's ice hockey game at Hanaway Rink on Saturday evening.
It took less than a minute for Plymouth State to break through as McCallum fired a shot off the NEC goaltender's glove and into the net for the early lead. Following the goal, fans threw hundreds of teddy bears onto the ice. Next week the bears will be donated to the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD), providing comfort and support to over 2,000 pediatric patients.
PSU doubled the lead less than a minute later, but NEC scored in the final seconds of the second period to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Panthers scored back-to-back goals in the middle of the third to extend the lead, including the first career tally for sophomore
Dante Moretti (Powell, Ohio), but a short-handed score by the Pilgrims made it 4-2. McCallum answered moments later with a power play strike, but again NEC responded with a power play goal of its own to make things interesting over the final three-plus minutes.
Plymouth State held on, though, and junior
Carson Lanceleve (Stewiacke, Nova Scotia) locked up the win with an empty netter to account for the 6-3 final.
Prior to the game, nine-year old Connor Nugent, a CHaD patient, led a ceremonial puck drop in support of the annual
Teddy Bear Toss game.
During the first intermission Plymouth State honored the men's cross country program, which captured its first Little East Conference title in late October.
Plymouth State improves to 9-3-1, while NEC goes to 7-6-0.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 6, NEC 3
- Plymouth State (9-3-1)
- NEC (7-6-0)
How it Happened:
- Plymouth State wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Graduate student Colin Stevens (Concord, N.H.) grabbed a loose puck behind the PSU goal and flipped a pass to McCallum, who raced up the left side, made moves around a pair of defenders and fired a shot off the glove of the NEC goaltender and into the net just 51 seconds into play.
- PSU doubled the lead just 46 seconds later when senior Myles Abbate (Norwell, Mass.) skated in on a 2-on-1 before slipping a cross-ice pass to Tait on the weakside to make it 2-0.
- Both teams had chances on the power play, with Lanceleve whistling a shot just wide of an open net, and a Pilgrims' skater ringing the post later in the frame, but the score remained 2-0 heading into the first intermission.
- The Pilgrims had a perfect chance to cut into the deficit midway through the second during a 1-0 break, but senior goaltender Brendahn Brawley (Morton, Pa.) slid to his left to deny the opportunity.
- NEC capitalized on a power play chance late in the frame as a slap shot from the high point made its way through traffic with just 6.6 seconds left in the period to make it 2-1.
- PSU restored the two-goal lead 6:28 into the third period. Sophomore DJ Castello (Palm Coast, Fla.) intercepted a pass in the offensive zone and found Moretti on the right side. Moretti skated in, made a move around the goaltender and flipped a backhanded shot into the open net as he fell to the ice to make it 3-1.
- Tait won an offensive zone faceoff to junior Brett Lockhart (Braintree, Mass.), then tipped in Lockhart's shot from the point to extend the margin to 4-1 at the 10:03 mark.
- NEC got one back on a shorthanded goal at 13:20 after a long pass led to a breakaway chance, but McCallum banged in his second of the night with a one-timer from outside the right circle during the same power play just 1:34 later to push the lead back to 5-2.
- The Pilgrims scored during a two-man advantage to make it 5-3 with 3:31 remaining, but Lanceleve put the game out of reach with his empty netter with 12 seconds left on the clock to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- With his empty net goal, Lanceleve now has at least one point in 11-of-13 games and moves into a tie for the team lead in goals with nine.
- Stevens finished with a pair of assists.
- Thirteen different players recorded points for the Panthers.
- Plymouth State blasted 44 shots to the Pilgrims' 29.
- PSU finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Pilgrims were 2-for-7.
- Brawley made 26 stops in the win.
- The Panthers went 41-29 in the faceoff circle, with junior Jeromey Rancourt (Lewiston, Maine) winning 13-of-20.
Up Next:
- After a break for finals and the holidays, Plymouth State returns to the ice on Jan. 5 when Fitchburg State comes to Hanaway Rink for a league game. Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m.
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