Plymouth, N.H. – Playing in front of a sold-out and rowdy crowd at Hanaway Rink, the top seeded Plymouth State Panthers looked to repeat at the best in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) as they squared off against second-seeded University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth Corsairs to determine the 2012-2013 MASCAC champion.
The game turned into one of defense early, as neither teams were able to score after the opening frame. The Corsairs were held shot less for the first 10 minutes, and the Panthers ended the period outshooting UMD by a 12-6 margin.
The second period opened up the scoring for both teams, as PSU was able to find the back of the net first at 07:35. Junior Phil Arnone was able to fire off a shot the fluttered through heavy traffic in front of the UMD net to make it 1-0. UMD struck back only 42 seconds later, when an lose puck in front of the PSU goal was gobbled up by UMD defenseman Nick Marquis who fired it into the back of the net to make it 1-1, and to close out the scoring for the period.
Although it looked like the game was destined to go to OT with the great play by each teams goalie and defensives, it was sadly not be. UMD sophomore Steve Ginand was able to slide a backhander past PSU senior goaltender Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden) for the game winner.
With the win UMD is now receives the MASCAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, which began this past Wednesday.
Plymouth State finishes the season with a 19-7-1 overall record, matching the 1985-86 Panther team for most wins in a season.