Men’s Hockey Savors First Ice Victory

WATERVILLE VALLEY, N.H. – The Panthers were coming off a frustrating Saturday night home opening 15-5 rout by U Mass Dartmouth. The PSU men’s cokey team got their first win of the season 5-2 in a non-conference matchup against the Castleton State College Spartans at Waterville Valley Ice Arena, Nov 23. Play began with even possession and equal intensity on both sides of the puck. Four minutes into the game, the Panthers put into the net what looked to be the first goal of the game. However, it was called back after it was ruled that the puck was directed in off a Panther skate. Two minutes later PSU capitalized on a power play opportunity when sophomore Jay Londer scored a goal, assisted by senior Michal Bodnar and freshman Deni Bojadzic. The score remained 1-0 after the first period. An unassisted Spartans goal, from freshman Joe Zeitler tied up the game with 9:15 left in the second period. Just twelve seconds later, the Panthers responded with a Paul Feeney (junior) goal to reclaim the lead. He was set up by junior Captain Rory Nickerson and junior Dennis Kane. The Nickerson/Kane combination would prove to be key throughout the game. With 4:15 left in the second period, PSU added to their lead with a Chris Cadieux (freshman) power play goal, assisted by another Bodnar/Bojadzic combo. The Panthers entered the third period with a 3-1 lead. This was quickly added onto just twenty-six seconds in, thanks to a goal by Alternate Captain junior Nick DeBaggis, who was set up by Nickerson and Kane. A fifth and final goal for PSU was scored off a power play by junior Matt Withers. He was assisted by Nickerson and Kane again, who tallied three assists apiece on the game. Plymouth’s four goals remained unanswered until Castleton scored when freshman Joe McIntyre scored on a power play with the aid of sophomore Josh Wilkinson with only forty-six seconds remaining. Panthers’ sophomore goalie Trevor Cherry recorded his first win on the season while stopping seventeen shots overall. A satisfied Coach Brett Tryder, who in his second season as head coach of the Plymouth State men’s ice hockey program, commented on the first victory of the season. “It was definitely necessary for us to come back and get back to basics. We were definitely embarrassed after the last game. We needed to, and we came back and we’re just going to try and get better with every period.” A few things Coach Tryder said they did differently for this game were: “We played defensive zone, had our defense less involved in the offense, so we had more concentration on defense.” As for next time he said of his team, “We could definitely be more physical and be more disciplined in all key zones.” With a 5-2 victory, the Panthers improved their record to 1-2-1 on the season while the Spartans dropped to 0-3-0 overall. The next PSU men’s home game will be held on Saturday, December 4, against Salve Regina at 6:00 p.m. in their second ECAC Northeast Conference game of the season.