PLYMOUTH, N.H. — Plymouth State College saw its playoff hopes end despite last second heroics and the return of junior goalie Mike Mansson as the Panthers skated to a 4-4 tie with Worcester State in an ECAC Northeast showdown Saturday, February 22 at the Ice Arena.
Plymouth entered the game four points behind Worcester State and Suffolk for the eighth and final seed in the ECAC Division III Northeast Conference with two games remaining. Only a win would have kept playoff hopes alive for the Panthers, but the Lancers ended those hopes by retaining their four-point lead in the race for the final playoff berth. Worcester State eventually clinched a playoff berth following Suffolk’s season-ending loss on Monday.
Worcester State would get the scoring started midway through the first period when senior Captain Matt Cruikshank slipped the puck past Panther goalie Mike
Mansson, giving the Lancers an early 1-0 lead. That was all the scoring either team would see for the rest of the period, and it would be well into the second period before Plymouth freshman Matt Gotts broke the scoring drought with a goal over fallen Lancers goalie Joe Coderre, evening the score at one. Another ten minutes would pass before Worcester State answered back, as freshman Jeff Urban put the Lancers back up 2-1 with just two minutes remaining in the second period, and it would stay that way as play entered the final period.
The third period proved to be a wild ride from start to finish. The Panthers opened up scoring on a goal by junior Mike Jackson less than 30 seconds into the period, tying the game at two apiece. Worcester would answer back two minutes later with a goal by freshman Dan Grout, keeping Worcester State on top, 3-2.
The play of the night had to have come two minutes after Worcester State regained the lead, when Lancers defenseman Steve Prebola dove over his own goalie to knock away a puck that had trickled past and was headed into the net. The play not only kept Worcester State from losing the lead again, but it proved to be the difference in Plymouth State’s fight to stay in playoff contention.
It was still 3-2 late in the third period when Plymouth got another shot to even the score. Taking advantage of one of the game’s few penalties, sophomore Kyle Poirer took a pass at the blue line, then sent a slap shot through traffic and into the Worcester net, evening up the score at three. The goal was Poirer’s team-leading ninth on the power play.
The score remained deadlocked until the final minute of the game, when with just 20 seconds left, Worcester’s Mike Almeida managed to sneak one past Mansson to put Worcester back up 4-3. With their fate on the line, Plymouth pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker, and made an all-out drive to save their season. Just as Dennis Kane had saved the Panthers last Sunday with his last-second goal, sophomore Max Wernert managed to break through
Worcester’s defense with just three seconds left on the clock, saving Plymouth from defeat and sending the game into overtime tied at four. Unfortunately for the Panthers, there were no heroics in the extra session, as Worcester managed to hold off all six Panthers in the closing seconds to secure the 4-4 tie.
Freshman Rory Nickerson assisted on three goals for Plymouth State, giving him a team-high 14 assists on the season and a share of the team lead in points scored with Dennis Kane, who assisted on two goals, including Wernert’s tying goal at the end of regulation. Kyle Poirer’s goal midway through the third was his tenth of the season, making him just the second Panther to reach double digits in goals this season.
Mike Mansson (1-2-3), out since early January with a hand injury, proved ready and able in his return to net for Plymouth State, stopping 36 of 40 shots.
Worcester State’s Jon Coderre (7-11-3) had his hands full with the Panthers’ relentless shooting, but managed to stop all but four of Plymouth’s 50 shots.
With their elimination on Saturday, Plymouth State will fail to make the playoffs for the third time in four years. The Panthers, 3-8-4 in the ECAC Northeast and 5-11-5 overall, closed out their season Tuesday against Western New England College.