GORHAM, Maine – Senior
Payton Schaly (Orillia, Ontario) scored twice, extending his goal streak to seven games, but the University of Southern Maine scored three times in the third period to edge Plymouth State University, 5-4, in Little East Conference (LEC) men's ice hockey action at USM Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Senior
Lucas Jones (Calgary, Alberta) and Schaly tallied first-period goals as PSU built a quick 2-1 lead. The Huskies evened the score with a second-period goal, then took a 3-2 lead on an early third-period power play tally.
Freshman
Étienne Tremblay-Mathieu (Québec City, Québec) scored his sixth goal of the season less than three minutes later to tie the game, but Southern Maine responded with two goals in a 79-second span midway through the period to take control at 5-3.
Schaly added another goal with the extra skater late in the third, cutting the deficit to 5-4, but Plymouth State was unable to complete the comeback.
Plymouth State moves to 8-7-0 (5-3-0 LEC), while Southern Maine improves to 7-6-1 (5-1-1 LEC).
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 4, Southern Maine 5
- Plymouth State (8-7-0, 5-3-0 LEC)
- Southern Maine (7-6-1, 5-1-1 LEC)
How it Happened:
- The Huskies struck first, scoring 2:15 into the contest.
- Jones tied the game on a wrap-around goal at 3:59 of the first period.
- Schaly followed less than a minute later, scoring from the high slot with a wrister to the top-left corner, giving PSU a 2-1 lead into intermission.
- Southern Maine evened the score with 5:28 left in the second period. The game remained 2-2 entering the third.
- Early in the third, the Huskies took a 3-2 lead on a power play goal.
- Tremblay-Mathieu tied it at 3-3 less than three minutes later, beating the USM goalie high to the stick side from just inside the blue line.
- Southern Maine scored twice in 79 seconds midway through the period to take control at 5-3.
- Schaly finished the scoring with a quick shot off an offensive-zone faceoff win, finalizing the 5-4 result.
By the Numbers:
- Schaly has scored in six straight games, recording seven goals and two assists in that span. He is tied for the team-lead with eight tallies on the year.
- Senior Will Redick (Collingwood, Ontario) posted two assists to take sole possession of second place all-time with 80 career helpers. He also went 19-7 in the faceoff circle.
- Senior Rider McCallum (Langley, British Columbia), junior Patrick O'Connell (West Chester, Pa.), and freshman Kim Hilmersson (Uppsala, Sweden) all added assists.
- Junior Connor Strobel (Butler, Pa.) posted 32 saves.
- Plymouth State owned a 54-37 advantage in shots.
- PSU was 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Huskies converted 1-of-2 power play chances.
- Southern Maine leads the all-time series, 17-9-2, though this was the first meeting since November 2008.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State visits New England College for a conference matchup next Saturday (Jan. 17) at 6 p.m.
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