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Courtesy Plymouth State Sports Information

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Senior Chris Zaremba (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and junior Kyle Greco (Hillside, Ill.) combined for three goals and three assists Tuesday evening as top-seeded Plymouth State University stormed past fifth-seeded Worcester State University, 7-1, in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men’s ice hockey semifinal game at Hanaway Rink.

Zaremba tallied two goals and one assist while Greco contributed a goal and two assists to lead a balanced Panther attack that scored a season-high seven goals.  The Panthers, 7-0-1 in their last eight games, scored four times on the power play and junior goaltender Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden) made 29 saves to lead the Panthers to their first conference championship game in 26 years.

PSU, 16-6-3 overall, will host second-seeded Salem State University this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in the MASCAC title game at Hanaway Rink.  The Vikings advanced to the championship contest Tuesday with a 4-3 overtime victory over third-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in the other semifinal in Salem, Mass.  The MASCAC champion will receive the conference’s first automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

Worcester State, which upset fourth-seeded Fitchburg State in Saturday’s first round, got a first-period goal from Pat Styckiewicz (Ludlow, Mass.), but the Lancers finish the season with a 9-15-3 overall mark.  The lopsided score was unexpected, as the three regular season games between the two schools all went to overtime (1-1-1).

Plymouth State will be making its first conference championship game since 1986, when the Panthers were defeated by Curry College for the ECAC Championship.

The Panthers got on the board three minutes into the first period when a shot by junior Tim Visich (Mount Pleasant, MI) from the left boards slipped underneath the pads of senior goalie Bryan Kalczynski (Tonawanda, NY).  Sophomore Phil Arnone (Litchfield, NH) made it 2-0 midway through the frame when he deflected a shot by freshman Zach Sarig (Reading,Pa.) in the slot that snuck over Kalczynski’s shoulder.

The Lancers scored their only goal of the contest on the first marker of the season by Styckiewicz, who circled around from behind the net and put in his own rebound late in the opening period to make it 2-1 after one.

PSU proved to be too strong with three goals in the middle stanza.  Junior Alex Cottle (West Chester, PA) snapped home a wrist shot at 6:45 to make it 3-1, and Greco and sophomore Travis Stevens (Montclair, CA) scored 57 seconds apart to end the period with the four-goal advantage. Greco netted his team-leading 14th marker of the season from the left circle while Stevens intercepted a Lancer clear attempt and weaved through traffic before scoring the unassisted tally.

Plymouth State would score two more times in the third for highest output of the season, both by Zaremba.  The home team finished 4-for-8 on the power play while holding the Lancers scoreless in seven tries with the man advantage.

Kalczynski, who finished with 26 saves in the losing effort, ends the campaign with the lowest goals against average in team history (2.65) while his save total is tied for the third-most ever (723). In his two seasons at WSU, he has the second-lowest career GAA in the 45 years ice hockey has been a varsity program (2.87).

Courtesy Salem State Sports Information

Salem, MA—The second seeded Salem State Vikings advanced to their third straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Finals with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over third seeded UMass-Dartmouth in a conference semi-final match on Tuesday night at Rockett Arena.

Salem State (15-8-3) will now travel to face No. 1 seed Plymouth State, which defeated Worcester State 7-1 in the other MASCAC semi-final match, for the conference championship on Saturday afternoon at 6:00 PM. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

After a scoreless first period the Vikings finally broke through 1:25 into the second period, when Derek Crocker (Wakefield, MA) forced a loose puck into the back of the net after an Ian Flanagan (New Hampton, NH) attempt.  Minutes later the Vikings made it 2-0 with a goal from Eric Defelice (Chalfront, PA) as Nick Lampson (Groton, MA) and Brian Hanafin (Burlington, MA) (Fishkill, NY) were credited with the helpers. 

UMass-Dartmouth (16-9-2) got on the scoreboard when Andrew Pontes (New Bedford, MA) back-handed a puck for a goal to make it 2-1 late in the second period. The Corsairs tied the game at 2-2 just 1:57 into the third period, as UMass –Dartmouth’s Shaun Walters (Plymouth, MI) connected on a one-timer off a pass from Greg Girtatos (Tyngsboro, MA).However, Matt Kenline (Yarmouth, MA) answered to put Salem State back on top in the 10th minute at 3-2. UMass-Dartmouth again tied the game for the second time with a goal by Girtatos who corralled a rebound in front of the net to make the score 3-3, 12:45 into the period. Steve Ginand (Milford, MA) and Dave McDonald (Wakefield, MA) were credited with the assists.

In the overtime period both teams played at a frenetic pace until the game reached its waning moments. With just under a minute left Lampson took the puck from Matt Kenline (Yarmouth, MA) at the red line and carried it deep into the zone where he found Matt Genovese (Hingham, MA) wide open on the wing. UMass-Dartmouth’s Ryan Williams (Milton, Ont.) could not recover in time and Genovese found an opening and buried the puck into the open net with 41 seconds remaining; setting off a wild celebration.    

Salem State’s Ryan Sutliffe (Grand Forks, ND) had 41 saves in the win while his counterpart Williams stopped 44 shots.The Vikings, who have reached the past two MASCAC Championships, lost to Fitchburg State 6-5 in overtime in last season’s final.