After winning their semifinal contests on Wednesday, top seed Plymouth State and second seed Worcester State are set to meet in the 2023 MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Championship on Saturday at 6 pm.

#2 Worcester State 5, #6 Salem State 4 OT   Box Score

Worcester, Mass. - After being postponed twice due to weather, Worcester State and Salem State clashed in the MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Semifinal Wednesday afternoon at the Fidelity Bank Ice Arena in Worcester. A tense offensive battle included three unanswered goals from the Vikings within the first five minutes of the second period, followed by a comeback in the third period by the Lancers to take the lead. The Vikings would not give up, as a last second effort within the final seconds of the game turned into a goal from senior Luke Pepin (Lee, NH) to force overtime.

It only took 39 seconds into the start of overtime for graduate defender Max Roth (Chicago, Ill.), from junior forward Deiter Stange (Niles, Ill.), to break the tie and send Worcester State to the MASCAC Championship. 

FINAL SCORE: Worcester 5, Salem 4 (OT)

The first period saw the Lancers take control for its majority, recording 11 shots in contrast to Salem's 9, including a goal by junior defender Jason Lee (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), from first-year forward  Anders Grongstad (Royal Oak, Mich.). Outside of the lone goal from Worcester, it was a clean score sheet for both teams as neither team recorded a penalty in the period.

The lone Worcester goal coming into the second period would not stand for long as the Vikings responded with three unanswered goals in the first five minutes of action. Salem's first to tie the game was fired in and unassisted by first year Landyn Greatorex (Reading, MA), followed quickly by a goal from junior Keegan O'Donoghue (Frisco, TX) from first year Ethan Demumbrum (Brentowood, MA) to grab the lead just under three minutes in. Salem kept the pace going with another goal still to come when O'Donoghue and Demumbrum connected with junior Erik Larsson (Lake Tahoe, CA) to take a commanding 3-1 forcing Worcester State to call a timeout in an attempt to settle and refocus the Lancer squad. The timeout appeared to have the desired effect for Worcester as they stemmed the offensive attack from the Vikings forcing them to commit the single penalty of the game. The Lancers would work to cut into their deficit during the power play, but the Viking defense was not willing to concede ground forced the Lancers to skate away with no gain form the opportunity.Worcester would not stay quiet for long, cutting down their deficit to one just a minute after the successful Salem penalty kill with a shot in the net from senior forward Kevin  Drevitch (Oxford, N.J.), bringing the tally to 3-2 in favor of Salem. The second period would end with Worcester leading 22-17 in the shots on goal count, but the Vikings controlled the contest.

The Lancers shifted gears in the third period, as a goal from senior Brendan Ronan (Saugus, MA) 26 seconds into the start would equalize the score at three apiece. Worcester State would continue their run with a goal by sophomore Shane Prifrel (Inver Grove Heights, MN), from Stange, to give the Blue & Gold the lead once again. This looked like it was going to end up the game winner for the Lancers, until Salem keeper junior Aaron Mercer (Corner Brook, NL) was pulled from the net with under a minute remaining, giving the Vikings the chance at forcing overtime with a goal from Pepin in the final 36 seconds to keep their season alive. 

With the championship on the line, each team came out ready to knock in a quick goal to send their team into the MASCAC Championship. Seconds after face off, Roth was provided with a golden goal opportunity from Stange to punch the Lancers ticket to the MASCAC Championship, ending the Vikings' season after a hard fought battle filled with passion & determination. 

In the net, sophomore Jakub Kubik (Uherske Hradiste, Czech Rep.) recorded 28 saves on 32 shots on goal, while Salem's Mercer saved 31 out of 36. 

#1 Plymouth State 6, #4 Westfield State 0    Box Score

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The deadly top line of senior Myles Abbate (Norwell, Mass.), sophomore Connor Tait (Boyds, Md.) and freshman Will Redick (Collingwood, Ontario) combined for four goals and six assists as top-seeded Plymouth State University advanced to the championship game of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey tournament with a 6-0 win over fourth-seeded Westfield State University in semifinal round action at Hanaway Rink on Wednesday night.
 
Plymouth State, ranked #10 in the nation, will host the title game on Saturday (Mar. 4) at 6:00 p.m. looking for a MASCAC-record fourth-straight title. PSU faces second-seeded Worcester State University in the finals after the Lancers held off upset-minded Salem State, the six seed, 5-4 in overtime.
 
PSU sets a new program record by winning its 22nd game of the year, improving to 22-3-1 with an 18th-straight victory. Senior Brendahn Brawley (Morton, Pa.) finished with 13 saves to pick up his fifth shutout of the season, setting a new team record, while Abbate finished with three points to move into a tie for fifth among the team's all-time scoring leaders.
 
Plymouth State controlled play throughout, though the game remained scoreless for the first 30 minutes. Redick finally broke through midway through the second period and the floodgates opened as Abbate and Tait followed with tallies just 16 seconds apart.
 
PSU tacked on three third-period goals to cruise to championship game for the 10th time in 11 years.
 
Westfield State ends the year with an 11-14-2 mark.
 
The Basics:

• Plymouth State 6, Westfield State 0
  • Plymouth State (22-3-1)
  • Westfield State (11-14-2)

How it Happened:

• Despite outshooting the Owls by a 32-6 margin in the opening period, Plymouth State was held off the board and the game remained scoreless into the second period.
• The Panthers broke through at the 10:52 mark of the second when Redick redirected a shot from the point by senior Niks Krollis (Riga, Latvia) after Westfield State was unable to clear the zone.
• Redick set up Abbate with 5:39 left in the period, firing a pass through the slot that Abbate one-timed past the Owls' goaltender to double the lead.
• Just 16 seconds later Tait buried a Redick pass on the weakside to make it 3-0.
• The score would remain the same until the middle of the third when Tait put a big hit along the boards at center ice to knock the puck into the zone for a 2-on-1. Redick picked up the puck and skated in before whipping a pass to Abbate on the weakside, who went to the top left corner for a 4-0 advantage.
• Sophomore Cameron Patton (Bible Hill, Nova Scotia) skated into the slot from the left side 24 seconds later. The puck was knocked loose to freshman Payton Schaly (Orillia, Ontario) right in front, who pushed it back to Patton at the far post for the easy score and a 5-0 lead.
• Sophomore Dante Moretti (Powell, Ohio) and senior Jacob Laurin (Stockholm, Sweden) teamed up to account for the final score with 5:50 left on the clock. Moretti knocked the puck loose in the corner and Laurin sent it back to him behind the Owls' goal. Moretti skated behind the net, then whipped a pass through the crease to Laurin on the far side for a one-timer to cap the scoring.

Releases courtesy of Worcester State and Plymouth State Sports Information