Women’s Hockey Season Comes to an End

Facing two games that the Women’s hockey team needed to win in order to make the playoffs, the Panthers were unable to capture wins against both University of Southern Maine, as well as Nichols College. Both losses drop PSU’s overall final record to 3-20-2.

Against USM, the Panthers struggled to get shots on net, managing only five shots through the first 40 minutes of the game. Fortunately for Plymouth, Alyssa Altschuler (Cheshire, CT) was having a great night in net, stopping all 14 shots that she faced in the first two periods.

Unfortunately for PSU, the Huskies of Southern Maine came out strong in the third period, scoring twice in a 1:36 early in the frame. The Panthers were able to muster 11 shots in the last 20 minutes of the game, as Kate Banys (Newburyport, MA) fired off three shots in the period, while Marisa Zamrock (Lewiston, ME) and Courtney Evans (Fairbanks, AK) had two shots apiece in the third.

Despite the 11 shots, PSU wasn’t able to get the dreaded ‘0’ off of their side of the scoreboard.

With that game behind them, it set up to be an extremely simple scenario for PSU against Nichols College. Win, and in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) East playoffs, or lose, and their season was over (If PSU tied, they would have to rely on a few different games working in their favor.

With all of that occurring, the Panthers were also motivated, as it was Senior Day for Banys, Courtney Sollows (West Barnstable, MA) and Kelsey Cosby (Walpole, MA).

Neither the Panthers or the Bison were able to find the back of the net in the first period, as Altschuler stopped the 10 shots that she faced in the first 20 minutes of competition.

In the second period, the Bison scored to go up 1-0 2:30 into the second frame. Both teams went back-and-forth for the next few minutes, as neither team could sustain much offensive pressure.

With 14:04 left in the second period, sophomore Frederike Lalonde (Thetford Mines, Quebec) scored to tie the game back up at one. Lalonde was set-up by junior Olivia Leon (Natick, MA) and Lauren Connelly (Braintree, MA).

As the second period started to wind down, both teams continued to look to end the session with momentum. Fortunately for Nichols, they got the lead back with 1:48 remaining in the frame. To make matters worse, Nichols went on a powerplay after the goal that wrapped around the second and third periods.

PSU was able to kill the powerplay off, and were able to tie the game back up when Lalonde scored her second of the game. The goal, which was assisted by Haley Branovan (Wexford, PA) and Emily Auby (Stoughton, WI) resulted in the two-all tie.

Auby, Zamrock, and Gracie Shewell (Hanover, MD) all had shots on the net shortly after the goal, but Nichols was able to score midway though the third period. The 3-2 Nichols lead soon turned into a 4-2 lead with 3:08 left in regulation. The Bison added an empty-netter for the final of 5-2.

Plymouth had been able to advance to the playoffs the past two seasons, but won’t be able to in 2015. One thing that will benefit PSU heading into next season, is that they will be able to return a large percentage of their players. While the losses of Banys, Sollows and Cosby hurt the production equally on-and-off the ice, Altschuler, Branovan, Lalonde and Evans will look to bring the team back to the playoffs once the 2015-2016 season gets underway.

Head Coach Ashley Kilstein has allowed this program to grow in leaps and bounds over the past few seasons, and looks to continue that trend next season. With having a number of key players coming back next season, look for this season to be an exception to not making the playoffs, not the rule.