Plymouth State Men’s Ice Hockey prevails against Framingham State

The Plymouth State men’s ice hockey team came out tough and defeated Framingham State College 8-5 at Loring Arena last Saturday night in a Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference matchup. This third consecutive win brings the Panther’s record to 11-4-1 in the MASCAC and 15-7-1 overall. With a week to go in the season, Plymouth is ranked third, just one point behind the second place Salem State College. First-year goalie Jack Astedt still wasn’t pleased with what seemed to be an amazing victory. “I feel that we didn’t play to the best of our abilities, but a win is always a win and I’m glad we pulled it off.,” Astedt said, “To score 8 goals in another rink is always really good.” The Panthers started off strong with two goals in the first period by Alex Cottle and Richie Zobak, the latter’s goal was on a power play at 6:09. Plymouth’s lead was cut in half at the end of the period when Framingham State senior Brett Casavant retaliated by scoring on a power play. With 31 seconds into the middle frame, Framingham’s Matt Lally scored his eighth goal of the year, but just 27 seconds later Cottle bumped the lead back up to two with his second goal of the night. The Rams tied the score when Eric Walsh netted a goal on a power play again at 4:02, but the Panthers countered quickly again by Chris Zaremba scoring just 31 seconds later. The score at the end of the second period was 5-3. Framingham State tied up the score with two goals in the first 3:21 of the final period. Framingham senior Joe Hurley scored an unassisted goal marking his fourteenth of the season. Then Trevor Johnson scored a short goal to tie the score at 5-5. Continuing the night’s trend, PSU junior Sean Buckley answered back with the game-winning goal just under a minute later. At 6:41 Cottle would complete the hat trick with his seventh goal of the season and then Chris Chambers would finish off the game by bringing the final score to 8-5 with an empty net goal in the final minute of the game. The game ended with 16 penalties, FSC capitalized on two of four while PSU scored on three of eight. FSC also picked up a shorthanded goal. Cottle and Chambers led the team with a combined five points. Cottle racked up three points and two assists while Chambers mirrored his teammate with two points and three assists. The Panthers outshot the Rams 40-28 while Astedt made 23 saves on the night. FSC goalie Terence Sullivan made 32 saves throughout the game.”I feel very good going in to the Westfield State College game,” said Plymouth’s Associate Head Coach and Head Recruiter Craig Russell, “Last time we went down there, we were battling some last minute injuries and it really made our lineup into something we didn’t feel comfortable with. The game will most likely have a lot of meaning behind it, and its outcome could determine the fate of up to 4 teams. I’m glad there will be something at stake for the last game of the regular season, it will make the guys play at their best, which is what you want going into playoffs.” So take it from Coach Russell, this is not a game you would want to miss. If you can make the drive, the Panthers will be playing their final game tomorrow, February 27, on the road against Westfield State College to wrap up the regular season.