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Courtesy Plymouth State Sports Information

Plymouth State 7, Fitchburg State 1

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Senior Kyle Greco (Hillside, Ill.) scored two goals and assisted on two others Tuesday evening as top-seeded Plymouth State University defeated fifth-seeded Fitchburg State University, 7-1, in a semifinal game of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament at Hanaway Rink.

Freshman Zach Fox (Sandown, N.H.) added a goal and two assists and senior goalie Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden) made 27 saves as PSU earned a berth in its second straight MASCAC championship game. The Panthers scored five third-period goals to defeat the Falcons for the fourth time this season, and improved their home record this winter to 12-1.

PSU, 19-6-1 overall, will host the MASCAC title game this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at Hanaway Rink against the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal between second-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and third-seeded Salem State University. PSU edged Salem State University, 3-2, in last year’s championship game.  Saturday’s winner will receive the MASCAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

Fitchburg State, which upset fourth-seeded Westfield State in last Saturday’s quarterfinal, completes its season at 11-14-2 overall. The Falcons were the 2011 MASCAC champions.

The offenses got off to a slow start as neither team was able to score in the opening period.  The upset-minded Falcons had the advantage early, out-shooting the home team 12-1 in the first 13 minutes before ending the period with a 13-6 shot margin.

It was midway through the second period when Fox finally broke through for the Panthers. He took a drop pass near the left circle from senior Alex Cottle (West Chester, Pa.) and snapped a shot that went over the goalie’s shoulder into the top right corner at the 11:54 mark.  Sophomore Zach Sarig (Reading, Pa.) doubled the lead four minutes later, as Greco won an offensive zone face-off back to Sarig at the point, and Sarig fired a shot through a screened goalie for his ninth of the season.

The Panthers extended the margin in the third period, as senior Kyle Weiland (Hamden, Maine) scored on a rebound at 2:29 after the goalie had stopped a shot by junior Dave Walters (Ottawa, Ont.)

The Falcons did not give up, and senior Joseph Caveney (Fitchburg, Mass.), the nation’s leading scorer, tallied a power play goal at 5:37 to put the visitors on the board.  Caveney made an outstanding individual effort, stick-handling through the Panther defense and snapping a shot inside the left post to break up the shutout. Caveney finishes the season with 17 goals, 30 assists and 47 points.

It took PSU just 16 seconds to get the goal back as Greco took a feed from Fox in the slot and scored to mark it 4-1 with 14 minutes remaining.  Freshman Colt Smelster (Fairfax, Vt.) intercepted a clearing pass at the blue line two minutes later and fired a wrist shot that found the back of the net, and Cottle got into the act with seven minutes to play after another set-up pass from Fox.  Greco closed out the scoring in the final minute with his second of the night following some nice passing from junior Travis Stevens (Montclair, Calif.) and freshman Andrew Wigg (Lantz (N.S.).

Plymouth State came back to finish with a 35-28 advantage in shots on goal.  PSU killed off six out of seven Fitchburg power plays but came up empty on four extra-man opportunities.

Junior Randy Wolcott (East Haven, Conn.) finished with 28 saves for the Falcons.

Courtesy UMass Dartmouth Sports Information

UMass Dartmouth 5, Salem State 4 (3OT)

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA –The third overtime was the charm for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's hockey team.

Junior defenseman Nate Dupere’s (Fall River, MA/Hebron Academy) wrist shot from just inside the blue line sailed into the net 1:55 into the third overtime period to give the Corsairs a come from behind, 5-4 victory over visiting Salem State in the semi-final round of the Massachusetts Collegiate Athletic Conference post-season playoffs at the Stephan Hetland Memorial Ice Arena Tuesday evening.

Dupere’s shot was the only shot the Corsairs took in the third extra period and completed a comeback that began when they trailed in the third period, 4-1.

With his team trailing by three goals, senior forward Phil Bronner (Wilbraham, MA/Springfield Jr. Falcons) re-directed home a shot from the point with UMD on the power play at 10:00 of the third period to make it 4-2. Sophomore defenseman Steve Ginand (Milford, MA/Northern Cyclones) scored his second goal of the game on a slap shot from the point 29 seconds later to make it 4-3, and senior forward Nick Marquis (Londonderry, NH/Valley Jr. Warriors) tied the game at 16:06 of the third period when he re-directed home a goalmouth pass from senior forward Dave McDonald (Wakefield, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors) to send the game into overtime.

UMD had to kill off a hooking penalty given to McDonald at 17:58 of the third period, and then each team killed two penalties in the first overtime before the remainder of the game was penalty free.

Salem State struck first, taking a 1-0 lead into the second period. Junior forward Eric DeFelice (Chalfont, PA/Manhattanville) gave SSU a 1-0 lead when he fired home a shot from the circle with the Vikings enjoying a man advantage at the 2:56 mark. Junior forward Kyle Phelan (Barnstable, MA/Bridgewater Bandits) and sophomore forward Kristofer Faric (Whitby, ON/Castleton State) drew assists. The Vikings preserved their lead when they killed a seven-minute penalty against freshman defenseman Michael Washington (Denver, CO/Jr. Huskies-EJHL), who was ejected after being penalized for contact to the head.

SSU scored twice within 25 seconds early in the second period to take a 3-0 lead. Senior defenseman Brian Hanafin (Burlington, MA/Burlington HS) sneaked into the slot and fired home a shot to make it 2-0 at 3:24, and then freshman forward Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, RI/Philadelphia Revolution) scored on a breakaway 25 seconds later to make it 3-1.

Ginand cut the Vikings’ lead to 3-1 when he scored on a slap shot from the point with UMD on the power play at 7:42 of the second period, but senior forward Derek Crocker (Wakefield, MA/Wakefield HS) restored SSU’s three goal lead when he fired home a wrist shot at 8:59 with the Vikings enjoying a man advantage, setting the stage for the Corsairs’ comeback.

“We wanted to give everyone their money’s worth,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach John Rolli. “We lost the last three years in the semi-finals, all by one goal, once in over time and once in double overtime. We were down against Plymouth, 4-1 in the third period and came back and tied them.  To be quite honest, I’m not sure how we did it tonight. Ginand’s goal seemed to spark us, and Marquis’ goal from his buddy, Dave McDonald, tied it up. We had to kill off a penalty at the end of regulation and two penalties in overtime. It was just a will to win game.”

The Corsairs outshot the Vikings, 71-61. Senior goaltender Ryan Williams (Milton, ON/Huntsville Otters-OPJHL) made 57 saves for UMD, while junior Ryan Sutliffe (Las Vegas, NV/Helena Big Horns-NORPAC) made 66 stops for SSU.

UMass Dartmouth improved to10-7-7 with the victory, while Salem State fell to14-12-1 with the defeat. The Corsairs advanced to Saturday’s championship, and will visit Plymouth State, which defeated Fitchburg State in the other semi-final, 7-1. The game was the final action of the season for Salem State.