COURTESY PHOTO OF PSU ATHLETICS
Plymouth played the Western Connecticut Colonials at home this past Saturday. Plymouth came into the game as the clear underdog as Western Conn entered the game 14-3-3. This was a make or break game for Plymouth as they needed the win to secure a 6th place seed in the playoffs.
The first half saw some twists and turns as the game started off physical as both teams tallied up 13 fouls, just in this half. The physical play Plymouth had on their offense got them fired up as they had two great scoring chances in the first ten minutes of the match. One shot came from sophomore Erik Armskog (Gothenburg Sweden) and the other coming from senior Truls Julseth (Fredrukstad Norway). Unfortunately, Western Conn’s goalie made some lucky saves and the game remained 0-0; for now. In a surprising move, Plymouth substituted goalie Linus Lindeberg (Stockholm Sweden) for junior Owen Caggiano (Sandwich Mass.), in the 28thminute. About six minutes later is when Western Conn would capitalize and find the back of the net, passed Caggiano.
The game wasn’t in PSU’s favor for the second half. Plymouth tried to come back giving off twelve shots, but inaccuracy plagued the team and desperation crept in as the Colonials would score two more times, one in the 63rdminute and another in the 80thminute. Plymouth could not answer back and that’s how the game would end with a score of 3-0 in favor of Western Conn.
We got to ask goalie Owen Caggiano a couple of questions after the heartbreaking game and he had this to say about how he and the team preformed: “I truly feel that both myself and the team put everything we had into that game, we all knew going into the game that is was a do or die situation for the season which gave us motivation to work as hard as we could. We just did not get the result that we wanted.” Caggiano also reflected back on the team’s strengths and weaknesses this season, “I believe that the weak point of our season was getting the ball in the back of the net, which just gives us something we need to focus on during the offseason. The strongest parts of our team were the fact that we're not only a team, but we are a family. We are all so close on and off the field which I think gives us the chemistry on the field that we need. Another key strong point of our team was the positivity, win or lose we are always trying to get each other up and focus on the positive.” Finally, Caggiano told us about his future and being a senior next season, “I look forward to keeping my grades up academically, and I also look forward to enjoying my last year with my amazing friends and coach and to start pursuing my future as a lawyer.”
The Plymouth State Panthers end the season with an overall record of 5 wins, 7 losses, and 3 ties and a conference record of 1 win, 5 losses, and 2 ties.