PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Three different players scored to lift Plymouth State University to a 3-1 win over Framingham State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey game at Hanaway Rink on Saturday night.
Sophomore
Payton Schaly (Orillia, Ontario) gave the Panthers an early lead in the first period. PSU doubled the margin in the second on a tally from freshman
Patrick O'Connell (West Chester, Pa.).
Framingham State made it 2-1 with three minutes left in the middle stanza, but senior
Matt Tartaglio (Houston, Texas) answered back with a short-handed tally just over two minutes later and senior goaltender
Kalle Andersson (Taby, Sweden) held the lead.
Plymouth State improves to 19-2-2 (16-1-2 MASCAC), while Framingham State goes to 8-13-2 and 8-9-2 in MASCAC play. PSU has already locked up the MASCAC regular season title and top seed for the MASCAC Tournament and will close out the regular season with a pair of road games next week.
Prior to puck drop, Plymouth State honored its senior class during a brief pregame ceremony; Tartaglio, Andersson,
Brett Lockhart (Braintree, Mass.),
Colin Tracy (Concord, N.H.),
Anton Jellvik (Taby, Sweden),
Jeromey Rancourt (Lewiston, Maine),
Carson Lanceleve (Stewiacke, Nova Scotia) and
Nick Poirier (Blainville, Quebec).
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 3, Framingham State 1
- Plymouth State (19-2-2, 16-1-2 MASCAC)
- Framingham State (8-13-2, 8-9-2 MASCAC)
How it Happened:
- Schaly got the scoring started at the 4:19 mark of the first when he ripped a shot from the right faceoff dot that beat the goaltender to the glove side.
- Plymouth State put up another 23 shots in the frame, but the score remained 1-0 into the first intermission.
- PSU doubled the margin 8:47 into the second. Poirier made a stretch pass through the neutral zone to junior Cam Patton (Truro, Nova Scotia), who slipped the puck to O'Connell for a one-timer in the high slot just inside the glove-side post.
- The Rams got one back late in the period. Framingham State came up with a steal at the tail end of a Panthers' power play and connected on a long pass for a breakout chance. The shot appeared to hit the far post and deflect out but was immediately ruled a goal to make it 2-1 with 2:51 left in the frame.
- Framingham State had a chance to pull even with a late power play, but the Panthers had other plans. Rancourt knocked the puck free along the boards and skated in for a 3-on-2, shorthanded chance. He slipped a cross-ice pass to Tartaglio, who lit the lamp with a wrister high to the blocker side to restore the two-goal advantage with just 37 seconds left before intermission.
- The teams went back-and-forth down the ice throughout the third period, but neither goaltender budged as the game ended with a 3-1 score.
By the Numbers:
- Andersson finished with 23 saves to improve to 16-2-1 on the year.
- Rancourt had the lone multi-point game for the Panthers with a pair of assists.
- O'Connell has caught fire of late with three goals and three assists over his last three games.
- Schaly's tally was his sixth of the year, while Tartaglio's was his first of the season.
- Plymouth State outshot the Rams by a 45-24 margin.
- Both teams finished 0-for-5 on the power play.
- Plymouth State dominated the faceoff circle, winning at a 69.3% clip. Rancourt went 17-4, while Patton was 16-6.
- The Panthers have won each of the last 23 meetings and boast a 30-game unbeaten streak against Framingham State.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State wraps up the regular season with a pair of road games next week, starting with a trip to UMass Dartmouth on Thursday (Feb. 15). Puck drop against the Corsairs is set for 7:30 p.m. at Hetland Arena in New Bedford, Mass.
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