Women’s Hockey Enters the Playoffs as 8th Seed
Weston Atwood
For The Clock
watwood@plymouth.edu
The Plymouth State women’s hockey team ended their season with an 8-15-2 record, which was enough to secure them the number eight seed in the New England Hockey Conference playoffs. Senior Haley Branovan (Canandaigua, N.Y.) led the team in scoring with eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points. She also became the Panthers all-time leader in women’s hockey scoring with 45 career points. Making a name for herself in her first season was freshman forward Alexis Fagan (Wakefield, R.I.), who led the Panthers in goals with nine on the season. Plymouth also saw another strong year in net from sophomore Emelie Lindqvist (Gulleråsen, Sweden) who started 12 games and notched 297 saves.
The Panthers hosted Saint Michael’s on February 10, in what was a close contest. Junior Courtney Evans (Fairbanks, Alaska) scored the Panther’s first goal in the second period. Saint Michael’s answered with two of their own in the third, but Plymouth never gave up. Branovan tied the game with 4:48 remaining. Then Fagan would notch the game winner with only 35 seconds remaining in the game.
The next game was a contest at the University of Massachussetts Boston. The Beacon’s had a 1-0 lead in the second before freshman Kailey Jacobs (Westwood, Mass.) grabbed a game-tying goal. Umass Boston would score twice in the third to take the victory 3-1. The Panthers looked to bounce back on the road at the University of New England. Plymouth State did pick up a 2-1 lead in the second period when freshman Julie Nagel (Canton, Mass.) and sophomore Kelsey Roy (Ft. Collins, Colo.) found the back of the net for the Panthers. UNE would score two more in the same period to win 3-2.
The Panthers final game of the regular season was a home contest against the Cadets of Norwich. Plymouth said farewell to seven seniors: Gracie Shewell (Hanover, MD), Sara Huff (Frisco, TX), Haley Branov an, Emil y Auby (Stoughton, Wis), Lauren Connelly (Braintree, MA), Frederike Brazeau-Lalonde (Thetford Mines, QUE) and Ally Altschuler (Cheshire, Conn.) playing their final home game at Hanaway. The Panthers would fall in the contest with Fagan picking up the lone goal in the second.
The Panthers holding the number eight seed will travel and face that same Norwich team they faced on Senior Day. Assistant captain Gracie Shewell says the team is preparing hard this week for their tough opponent
“Well, this week we have been doing a lot of refining of our game to get prepared.” Shewell explains. “We have done a lot of film sessions and breaking down our mistakes from the last game, but also looking at our positives and just hoping that by doing the little things right we will be able to capitalize against them this weekend!”
The Panthers traveled earlier to Norwich this season in a close contest they lost 4-2. Their playoff game will be Saturday, February 25, at 3:00 p.m.