The Plymouth State Men’s Hockey team defeated Southern New Hampshire University by a score of 4-3 in overtime on Sun., Nov. 30 in the 14th annual Police Athletic Stovepipe Tournament at the Ice Den at SNHU.
With the victory, PSU improved to 2-4 on the season while SNHU fell to a record of 2-5. This was the consolation for the Police Athletic Stovepipe Tournament as UMass Boston grabbed the tournament title with a 4-3 victory over Tufts University.
Overtime did not last long as PSU sophomore Bryan Horrigan scored the game-winning goal for the Panthers a minute and 48 seconds into the extra period. The goal was Horrigan’s first goal of the season. SNHU led most of the game, but PSU was resilient and rallied three different times. PSU first-year student Justin Phenney scored the game-tying goal on a power play for the Panthers in the third period.
The Penmen of SNHU opened up the game with a 1-0 lead in the first period as first-year student Mark Smith put one in the net. PSU sophomore Sean Buckley answered later in the period with a goal of his own to notch the game at a 1-1 heading to the second period. SNHU took their second lead of the game when junior Ryan DiBartolomeo scored. PSU answered again with a goal from junior Chris Chambers. SNHU would get their last goal of the game on a goal scored by Dave Carroll before Phenney tied the game.
PSU sophomore goalie Kevin Crosby was under fire all night. Aside from the three goals scored by SNHU, Crosby had a solid 27 saves on the night. SNHU sophomore goalie Todd Rowley had a similar stat line in giving up four goals and made 29 saves. For a hockey game, it was an offensive shootout. This was the second highest number of goals scored by PSU in any game yet this season.
The win stopped a four game losing steak for PSU while the loss for SNHU pushed their losing streak to three games. PSU will look to build a winning streak at home against Nichols College on Dec. 3rd. The game will be no doubt a tough one for PSU considering Nichols is 7-1 on the season. The Nichols game opens up a homestand for PSU in which they will play three of their next four games at home. SNHU will open up a three game road trip at Stonehill College.