COURTESY PHOTO
The Panthers were home this past Saturday to take on the Salem State Vikings in the third annual teddy bear toss game. Plymouth came in off a loss the day before and were looking to get back in the win column and move their record closer to .500, as well as defeat a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) foe. Plymouth was also looking to reignite their offense after being stifled to only 29 shots the game before. Salem State entered the game with a 2-7 record making this look like an easy game on paper for Plymouth.
With the start of the first period, Plymouth controlled the flow of the game with their elite attacking and superb defense. The first 5 minutes saw Plymouth shoot the puck seven times until Plymouth struck pay dirt on a shot senior. Taylor Jackson (St. Albans, VT) scored from a fumbled by the Vikings goalie with assists being accredited to classmate Brooke Maggy (Los Angeles, CA) and Amber Thomas (Cornwall, Ontario). The ensuing scene saw at least 300 teddy bears throw on to the ice from the crowd. Plymouth acquired its only penalty of the night ending the period on an opponent power play. The first period saw Sophomore Alex Rajsigl (Tecumseh, Ontario) with six and the offense with 18 shot being on goal.
The beginning of the second saw the Panthers winning 4 of the first five face-offs but saw a little too much of Salem’s offense as they came out with 4 shots on goal in the first five minutes. That’s when the Vikings came up with the equalizer in the seventh minute of the period as a save from Rajsigl landed right in front of a Salem offender who put the puck in the back of the net. Plymouth then became a team on a mission in the tenth minute. The Panthers got a two-minute power play and shot the puck nine times though none got past the opponent’s goalie. The period ended with Plymouth shooting the puck 16 times while Rajsigl racked up 10 saves.
The third period saw Plymouth move away from a game plan of shot quantity to shot quality, shooting the only 8 times, all of which were stopped by the Vikings sending the game in overtime. The only shot that wasn’t shot in desperation was junior Amanda McPherson’s (Livonia, MI
) who’s wrist shot just barely glanced of the post forcing the tie. Plymouth ended the game with 44 shots and 21 saves along with 19 face wins. Plymouth’s record to 2-4-2 and a NEHC record of 2-2-2.
The Panthers will be hosting Southern Maine this Saturday with the puck dropping at 2 p.m. They will travel for the holidays and take a break from hockey but will return to the ice January 4th to host UNE.