PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior goaltender
Connor Strobel (Butler, Pa.) made 32 saves in his first postseason start as third-seeded Plymouth State University cruised past sixth-seeded Vermont State University Castleton, 5-2, in the first round of the 2026 Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Ice Hockey Tournament at Hanaway Rink on Wednesday night.
Plymouth State improves to 15-10-1 and advances to face second-seeded and No. 13-ranked Babson College in a semifinal game on Saturday (Feb. 28) at 4 p.m. Castleton ends its season at 13-11-2.
Senior
Will Redick (Collingwood, Ontario) gave the Panthers a first-period lead, and Plymouth State remained in front the rest of the way. Junior
Patrick O'Connell (West Chester, Pa.) doubled the lead with a power-play goal less than two minutes later.
The Spartans cut into the deficit early in the second period, but sophomore
Luca Rea (Burlington, Ontario) restored the two-goal cushion. The Panthers added two more in the third period to put the game out of reach.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 5, Castleton 2
- Plymouth State (15-10-1)
- Castleton (13-11-2)
How it Happened:
- Strobel made an early glove save after a zone turnover gave the Spartans a prime scoring chance.
- Rea had a key block midway through the period to deny Castleton during an odd-man rush.
- Plymouth State grabbed the lead with 4:26 left in the frame when junior Will Pray (Prague, Czechia) set up Redick on a 3-on-2 break. Redick fired a wrister over the goalie's shoulder to give PSU a 1-0 lead.
- The Panthers doubled the margin just over a minute later – 22 seconds into the game's first power-play opportunity – when freshman Étienne Tremblay-Mathieu (Québec City, Québec) ripped a one-timer from the point. The shot deflected off the end boards, and O'Connell flipped the rebound off the back of the goalie to make it 2-0 heading into intermission.
- The Spartans cut the margin to 2-1 at 6:31 of the second when a feed from below the goal line set up a quick wrister in the slot.
- Strobel laid out to deny a 2-on-0 break midway through the frame.
- Plymouth State restored the two-goal margin with 7:03 left in the period when Rea stuffed in a rebound off a shot by senior Byron Hartley (Philadelphia, Pa.) from the high slot.
- PSU carried a 3-1 advantage into the third period.
- Sophomore Matt Hale (Center Harbor, N.H.) extended the lead to 4-1 when he made a quick move in front of the net during a power play 5:15 into the third.
- The Spartans had a golden opportunity to get back into the game with back-to-back power plays – including 1:40 of 5-on-3 – but Strobel and the PSU penalty kill came up huge.
- Freshman Kim Hilmersson (Uppsala, Sweden) converted a perfect feed from junior David Matousek (Karlovy Vary, Czechia) on a 3-on-2 break to make it 5-1 with 3:29 left.
- Castleton converted a power-play opportunity with 2:06 remaining to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Strobel's 32 saves matched his second-highest total this season.
- Matousek and Tremblay-Mathieu notched two assists apiece.
- Redick won 14-of-19 faceoffs (73.7%).
- Plymouth State went 2-for-4 on the power play, while Castleton finished 1-for-5.
- The Panthers held a 41-34 shot advantage.
- Plymouth State won all three meetings between the teams this year. The Spartans lead the all-time series, 11-6-1.
Up Next:
- The third-seeded Panthers visit second-seeded Babson for a semifinal game Saturday (Feb. 28) at 4 p.m.
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