FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Senior
Connor Tait (Boyds, Md.) erupted for a career-high four goals to ignite Plymouth State University to a 9-3 win over Framingham State University in a wild Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey action at Loring Arena on Saturday night.
Senior
Ethan Stuckless (Conception Bay South, Newfoundland) potted the lone goal of the opening period, scoring late in the frame, and the Panthers added two more in the first six minutes of the second for a 3-0 lead.
Tait potted his first of the night with 5:48 left in the middle stanza, a tally that would prove to be the game-winner, as PSU maintained the 4-0 lead heading into the second intermission.
The third period featured all sorts of scoring, as the teams combined for eight goals and nearly 50 minutes in penalties. The teams traded power play goals to make it 5-1 and Tait followed with his second of the night at the 4:13 mark. Framingham State used back-to-back power play goals to make things interesting, cutting the margin to 6-3, but Stuckless restored order midway through the frame and Tait tacked on two more to close out the win.
Plymouth State improves to 13-5-0 (10-1-0 MASCAC), while the Rams slide to 1-13-2 and 0-8-1 in conference action.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 9, Framingham State 3
- Plymouth State (13-5-0, 10-1-0 MASCAC)
- Framingham State (1-13-2, 0-8-1 MASCAC)
How it Happened:
- Plymouth State took a first period lead when Stuckless cleaned up a rebound off a shot from graduate student Colin Tracy (Bow, N.H.) with 3:08 left in the opening period.
- The Panthers gained some separation with a pair of quick goals in the second. Junior Will Redick (Collingwood, Ontario) potted his 13th of the year just 16 seconds into the frame, then sophomore Andrew Stuckless (Conception Bay South, Newfoundland) pushed the margin to 3-0 at the 5:47 mark.
- Tait extended the lead to 4-0 with 5:48 left in the stanza and PSU carried the commanding lead into the second intermission.
- Junior Brendan Doyle (Stratham, N.H.) buried a deflection from the right side during a PSU power play just 1:30 into the third.
- The Rams got one back with a power play goal of their own 91-seconds later, but Tait converted a backhanded shot after a nice feed into the slot from sophomore Severi Sulonen (Turku, Finland) to make it 6-1 with 15:47 left to play.
- Framingham State took advantage of a major penalty to pot two more power play goals to cut the deficit to 6-3 with more than 12 minutes still to go.
- E. Stuckless restored order with his second of the night at the 10:45 mark, and Tait completed the hat trick just 30 seconds later to push the lead back to 8-3.
- Tait closed out the scoring by converting a 2-on-1 feed from Redick with 1:18 left to play to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- The hat trick was Tait's second of the season and third of his career.
- E. Stuckless scored twice.
- Redick added three assists to his goal for a four-point game, while Doyle posted a goal and two helpers.
- Tracy also had a pair of assists in the win.
- The contest marked the second time both Stuckless brothers scored in the same game.
- Plymouth State held a 51-28 advantage in shots.
- Junior Brandon Shantz (San Antonio, Texas) made 25 saves for the Panthers.
- PSU went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Rams were 2-of-7.
- Plymouth State has dominated the series, winning each of the last 24 meetings and going unbeaten in the last 31 (30-0-1). PSU owns a 57-12-3 mark against the Rams all time.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State hosts Salem State in a league game on Thursday (Jan. 30) at 6:00 p.m.
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