Plymouth State and Salem State Advance to MASCAC Title Game on Saturday
The Plymouth State Panthers and the Salem State Vikings are headed to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Ice Hockey Championship after winning their respective semifinal match-ups Tuesday night.
Courtesy of Plymouth State and Salem State Sports Information
The Plymouth State Panthers and the Salem State Vikings are headed to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Ice Hockey Championship after winning their respective semifinal match-ups Tuesday night.
In the first semifinal of the night, sophomore Andrew Wigg (Lantz, N.S.) tallied a goal and an assist, including the game-winning goal midway through the second period Tuesday evening as second-seeded Plymouth State University edged third-seeded Westfield State University, 3-2, at Hanaway Rink.
Plymouth State (14-10-2 overall) advances to its third straight MASCAC Championship game, while Westfield State completes its season at 12-14-1. The Panthers will meet top-seeded Salem State University Saturday at 2:00 p.m. for the championship in Salem, Mass. The Vikings downed fourth-seeded Framingham State University in Tuesday's other MASCAC semifinal.
The Panthers jumped on the board in the first minute of the game as sophomore Zach Fox (Sandown, N.H.) connected on his seventh goal of the season. Fox dished the puck to junior Mike Freitag (Westmont, Ill.) on the right side, and when Freitag got the puck back to Fox in the slot, Fox fired the shot into a wide open net.
PSU had a chance to extend the lead a minute later but a goal was denied by the official due to a Panther skater in the crease.
Westfield State answered with goals by senior Tyler Prendergast (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and freshman Jackson Leef (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to take a 2-1 lead by the end of the period. Prendergast potted his 10th of the season at the 10-minute mark after a nice drop pass on the right side from freshman Maxime Richard (Trois-Rivieres, Que.), and Leef tipped a shot from the point by sophomore Kyllian Kirkwood (Copper Cliff, Ont.) out of mid-air at 14:17 to put the Owls in the lead.
Plymouth State had two other apparent goals overruled in the opening frame. A goal with 4:24 on the clock was denied because the net had become dislodged, and a shot just 13 seconds later was disallowed after the official conferred with the goal judge.
PSU evened the score at 2-2 midway through the second period. Freshman Ian McGilvrey (Omaha, Neb.), the MASCAC Rookie of the Year, notched his 12th of the season on a play set up by Wigg and freshman defenseman Tommy Dowell (Olathe, Kan.). Wigg followed with the go-ahead goal, a short-hander and the eventual game-winner, capitalizing on a misplay by the Owls goaltender and poking in a loose puck in the crease.
The home team out-shot the visitors 13-7 in a scoreless third period as Westfield State killed off four Panther power play opportunities. PSU finished 0-for-7 with the man-advantage, while the Owls were 1-for-4. Westfield pulled its goalie for the final 45 seconds but could not score the tying goal.
Senior Eddie Davey (Orangeville, Ont.) finished with 37 saves in the Owls goal as PSU had a 30-31 shot advantage.
Playing in the second semifinal of the night, top-seeded Salem State stymied the fourth seeded Framingham State Rams 3-1.
Framingham State came into the tournament riding the play of First-Team All-MASCAC senior goaltender Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, CA). Cafrelli was up to the challenge, thwarting a Salem State scoring attempt, until the Rams struck for the first goal of the night.
Taking advantage of a power-play, Eric Ward (Haverhill, MA) made a move towards the net; and placed a back hander into the top right corner of the net for an early 1-0 Framingham State lead. The Vikings tied the game midway through the period, when Gabriel Cromp's (Montreal, Quebec) shot deflected off a defender to tie the score at 1-1.
The teams remained tied entering the second, and Salem State dominated play in the period, outshooting the Rams 10-4, but it was Cafrelli, who kept the game tied, by making multiple doorstep saves to keep Framingham State in the game.
The Vikings continued to dominate the puck in the third, but it wasn't until Brandon Platt (Pittsburgh, PA) scored at the 11:03 mark that Salem State finally gained their first lead of the night. The Vikings continued to pressure Cafrelli, racking up 17 shots in the period compared to just five for the Rams. Cromp finally put the game out of reach with his second goal of the night with just over three minutes remaining that made the score 3-1.
Salem State's defense stifled Framingham State, as the home team held a 37-14 edge in shots, while frustrating the Rams, who allowed seven power play opportunities.
Salem State goaltender Ryan Sutliffe (Las Vegas, NV) was solid in goal, making a couple of huge stops while the game was still tied to give Salem State an opportunity to win. Sutliffe stopped 13 shots on net while his counterpart Cafrelli made 34. Salem State is 7-0 at home since a 4-1 loss to Babson College on January 2nd, and 10-2-1 overall.
The Vikings improved to 15-9-2 on the year while Framingham State ends the year with an 11-11-4 record. Salem State tied for the regular season championship with Plymouth State, but won the season series against the Panthers 2-0-1. Both teams will be looking for their second MASCAC Tournament Title.