PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior
Donte' DiPonio (Trenton, Mich.) scored twice and added an assist and seven different players recorded multi-point games as Plymouth State University flew past Worcester State University, 8-1, in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey game at Hanaway Rink on Tuesday night.
The game remained scoreless until late in the first period when the Panthers struck twice in a four-minute span, including DiPonio's first of the evening. Plymouth State put the game away with a four-goal second period. Worcester State looked attempted to build some momentum, cutting the margin to 5-1 with 20 seconds left in the middle stanza, but junior
Ethan Stuckless (Conception Bay South, Newfoundland) answered back just before the clock expired for a 6-1 advantage heading into the second intermission.
PSU tacked on a pair of third period goals to close out the lopsided win.
Plymouth State improves to 6-1-2 (4-0-2 MASCAC), while Worcester State dips to 1-5-0 (1-4-0 MASCAC).
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 8, Worcester State 1
- Plymouth State (6-1-2, 4-0-2 MASCAC)
- Worcester State (1-5-0, 1-4-0 MASCAC)
How it Happened:
- Freshman Andrew Stuckless (Conception Bay South, Newfoundland) opened the scoring with his first career goal with 5:10 left in the opening period. Stuckless took a feed from junior Dante Moretti (Powell, Ohio) in the slot and, with a scrum in front of the Lancers' goal, was able to push the puck over the goal line for the 1-0 lead.
- PSU doubled the advantage just over four minutes later when freshman Koby Howat (Honey Brook, Pa.) won the puck in the corner and played it to classmate Eddie Mulligan (Lincoln, R.I.) at the blue line. Mulligan passed to DiPonio on the far side and his wrist shot from the top of the circle got past the screened goalie with 1:11 left in the frame.
- The Panthers pushed the lead to 3-0 with a shorthanded goal just 2:54 into the second. DiPonio played the puck from behind the goal and senior Anton Jellvik (Taby, Sweden) won the race to the puck through the neutral zone for a 2-on-1 break. Jellvik carried the puck in on net before slipping a feed to senior Jeromey Rancourt (Lewiston, Maine) on the back post for the easy one-timer.
- PSU added another goal at 11:21 during 4-on-4 play. Senior Brett Lockhart (Braintree, Mass.) poked a loose puck to classmate Carson Lanceleve (Stewiacke, Nova Scotia), who skated in on the left side for another 2-on-1, before feeding junior Connor Tait (Boyds, Md.) for the goal.
- DiPonio potted his second of the game on a backhanded rebound with 1:29 left in the second period when the Worcester State goaltender couldn't handle a wrist shot from freshman Patrick O'Connell (West Chester, Pa.) from the left circle. O'Connell's shot bounced off the goalie's glove and DiPonio flipped the puck into the net to make it 5-0.
- Worcester State attempted to build some momentum heading into the second intermission as the Lancers got on the board with just 20.4 seconds on the clock, but the Panthers answered right back. Ethan Stuckless shot the puck to junior Josh Kagan (Winnipeg, Manotiba) for a breakaway. The Lancers' goalie made the initial save but Stuckless flipped in the rebound with five seconds left.
- Sophomore Will Redick (Collingwood, Ontario) got into the action roughly four minutes into the third period during 4-on-4 action when he received an outlet pass from classmate Rider McCallum (Langley, British Columbia) at center ice. Redick flew past the defense and beat the goalie through the five-hole to extend the margin to 7-1.
- McCallum capped the scoring with a power play tally in the final 30 seconds when his wrist shot from inside the right circle beat the goalie to the stick side.
By the Numbers:
- DiPonio finished with two goals and an assist.
- Redick, McCallum, and Ethan Stuckless all posted a goal and an assist, while Howat, Lanceleve and O'Connell recorded a pair of assists each.
- The Panthers held a 51-34 advantage in shots and went 1-for-4 on the power play. The PSU penalty kill unit was superb, holding Worcester State scoreless in six chances while converting a short-handed goal in the process.
- Senior Kalle Andersson (Taby, Sweden) made 27 saves over the first 50:28, before giving way to junior Jameson Bourque (Weare, N.H.), who stopped six shots over the final 9:32.
- PSU has outscored Worcester State, 17-2, in the two meetings this season.
- Plymouth State is unbeaten in the last 14 meetings (13-0-1) and is 35-6-4 against the Lancers since joining the MASCAC in 2009-10.
Up Next:
- The Panthers will take the holiday weekend off, returning to the ice on Nov. 30 at UMass Dartmouth. Puck drop from the Falmouth Ice Arena is slated for 6:15 p.m.
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