WORCESTER, Mass. – In a battle between the top two men's ice hockey teams in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), Plymouth State University rallied from a 2-0 deficit to top Worcester State University, 5-2, at Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Arena on Thursday night.
Worcester State raced out to an early lead, scoring off the opening faceoff and making it 2-0 midway through the first. The Panthers rallied behind a pair of goals by sophomore
Cameron Patton (Bible Hill, Nova Scotia) to square the game at 2-2 heading into the third, and senior
Myles Abbate (Norwell, Mass.) potted the game-winner midway through the third.
PSU, ranked #14 in the nation, added a short-handed tally late in the frame, before Abbate put the game out of reach with an empty netter less than a minute later to account for the final score.
Plymouth State has won nine straight to improve to 13-3-1 and stay perfect in MASCAC play (10-0-0). Worcester State has its five-game winning streak snapped to slip to 8-8-0 and 7-3-0 in league action.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 5, Worcester State 2
- Plymouth State (13-3-1, 10-0-0 MASCAC)
- Worcester State (8-8-0, 7-3-0 MASCAC)
How it Happened:
- Worcester State won the opening faceoff and skated in for the game's first goal just six seconds into the game.
- The Lancers doubled the lead at the 13:16 mark of the frame with a power play strike to make it 2-0.
- Patton cut the deficit to 2-1 just 4:40 into the second after the PSU forecheck led to a Lancers' turnover. Patton got the loose puck low on the right side and his pass to the far post deflected off a Worcester State skate and into the net.
- Plymouth State pulled even in the final minute of the stanza when Patton collected a rebound in the low slot and beat the Lancers' goaltender with just 42 seconds left in the frame.
- The Panthers took their first lead of the game at 10:14 of the third when Abbate blasted in a shot from the slot.
- The hosts had a chance to pull even on a power play with roughly five minutes remaining, but it was PSU that took advantage. Sophomore Anton Jellvik (Taby, Sweden) raced through the neutral zone to collect the puck, resulting in a 2-on-1 break, and classmate Connor Tait (Boyds, Md.) converted the chance with 3:14 left to play.
- Abbate added an empty-netter just 33 seconds later to put the game out of reach.
By the Numbers:
- Patton continues his torrid pace as he now has four goals and five points in his three games with the team.
- Abbate picked up his fifth and sixth goals of the year, while Tait potted his ninth of the season.
- Senior Brendahn Brawley (Morton, Pa.) made 12 saves to earn the win.
- Plymouth State outshot the Lancers by a 43-14 margin and won 48-of-75 faceoffs.
- Worcester State had won five straight, including three consecutive shutouts.
- PSU has dominated the all-time matchup, going 55-11-5 since first meeting in 1987. The Panthers are 9-0-1 in the last ten meetings.
Up Next:
- The Panthers return home on Saturday (Jan. 21) to face Framingham State for a 6:00 p.m. showdown.
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