Panthers Claw Back to Pull out Tie

It was déjà vu for the Plymouth women's ice hockey team on Tuesday night. After holding a 1-0 lead last Friday night against New England College, they saw that lead disappear in the third period and had to settle for a tie. They flipped the script Tuesday against Castleton, and after trailing 1-0 since the first period, freshman Katie Landry (Agawam, MA) picked the perfect time to score her first career goal with just two minutes and twenty-six seconds left in regulation to bring the Panthers back.

The first period was all Castleton. They outshot the Panthers 17-3 in what would be the beginning of a busy night for Plymouth junior goalie Ali Ponte (Richmond Hill, Ont.). Castleton was able to break through when Samantha Pion scored the game's first goal with just over nine minutes into the game. Ponte wouldn't let another one by her in what turned into a great performance by the net-minder.

The second period was more of the same as Castleton dominated puck possession and the flow of the game. Plymouth was unable to capitalize on what few chances they had as they were outshot in the second period 20-4, and they weren't having any luck getting a puck by Castleton's Paula Stephens.

Going into the third period, the Panthers had little to build on. To that point they had been outshot by 30 shots and Castleton had yet to be penalized. The Panthers knew they were going to have to take advantage of any chance Castleton gave up and capitalize on one of the few shots they were getting. That happened late in the third period. With less than three minutes left in the game, Castleton was called for too many players on the ice, and Plymouth was on the power-play. They took advantage and finally broke through just twenty-one seconds into the power-play when Landry took a feed from junior Meghan Cassidy (Somerville, NJ) and found the back of the net to tie the score 1-1 with just over two minutes left in the game.

The team came alive and looked like they might pull out an unlikely victory. They outshot Castleton 3-1 in overtime, but were unable to get the game-winner. The final horn sounded and Plymouth came away with a hard-fought tie. Ponte had a busy night in net but stayed strong and finished the game with 44 saves. Plymouth State (4-15-4) will look to build on two straight good showings and breakthrough with a win on Friday, February 15^th, when they travel to Manchester, NH to take on in-conference Saint Anselm College (15-4-4) who currently sit at third in the ECAC Women's East Conference. Puck drops at 4 p.m.