Despite being outshot 32-24, Plymouth made their shots count and scored early and often. Sophomore Mike Freitag (Westmont, IL) and sophomore Zach Sarig (Reading, PA) led the Panther scoring attack with two goals apiece and senior net-minder Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden) had yet another solid game between the pipes to lead the Panthers to a win in their final game of the regular season.
Plymouth got on the scoreboard first when they took advantage of a Fitchburg State penalty. Sarig scored his first of the game when he found the back of the net on the power-play to put the Panthers up 1-0. Astedt stopped all 11 shots he faced in the first period, and he would make that a theme in this one.
The second period was more of the same for the Panthers. They kept the Falcons off the scoreboard for the whole period, and even when Fitchburg went on the power-play Plymouth expanded their lead, adding a short-handed goal from Freitag to end the period up 2-0.
The third period began with more Plymouth scoring. Sarig added his second goal of the game just three and a half minutes into the final frame, and Plymouth had a 3-0 lead. Fitchburg wouldn’t go away quietly and finally got one past Astedt when Sean Loebs scored for the Falcons. The score was 3-1 with over half the final period to play.
There are two types of teams: teams that build a lead only to take their foot off the gas and let their opponent back into the game, and then there are the good teams that put their opponent away. Plymouth State is the latter. Freshman Brantley Sherwood (San Anselmo, CA) scored his second goal of the season with under five minutes to play in the game, making the score 4-1 and shutting the door on any chance of a Fitchburg State comeback. The Panthers won going away when Freitag added his second goal of the game on an empty-netter.
Along with his two goals, Freitag added an assist to lead the Panthers with three points while Sarig, junior Dave Walters (Ottawa, Ont.), and freshman Andrew Wigg (Lantz, N.S.) all had multi-point games for the Panthers. Astedt continued his streak of good games, having been name MASCAC Goalie of the Week last week, and he had 31 saves in this one. The next game for the Panthers will be the MASCAC semi-finals. Plymouth State won the season championship and earned the 1-seed and a bye for the first round of the conference tournament. On Tuesday, February 26th at Hanaway rink, the Panthers will play the winner of the Westfield State University and Fitchburg State University game. Puck drops at 6 p.m.