WESTFIELD, Mass. – Junior Jacob Laurin (Stockholm, Sweden) scored on a rebound to snap a 1-1 tie in the third period and Plymouth State University added an insurance tally later in the frame to skate past Westfield State University, 3-1, in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey game at Hanaway Rink in Plymouth, N.H on Thursday night.
The teams entered the final stanza deadlocked at 1-1 after each team tallied a power play goal over the first two frames. Laurin scooped up rebound in the slot and slipped the puck inside the left post 3:17 into the third and sophomore Anton Nasstrom (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden) beat the Westfield goaltender on a 2-on-1 break midway through the period to wrap up the win.
Plymouth State wins its fifth straight to improve to 13-4-2 and remains atop the MASCAC with a 10-1-2 mark. Westfield State dips to 8-8-2 and 3-6-2 in conference play.
Plymouth State took advantage of an early power play opportunity when junior Myles Abbate (Norwell, Mass.) gathered the puck in the corner before skating into the slot and ripping a shot just past the goaltenders outstretched leg at 7:40 of the opening period.
Westfield State had a prime chance at the equalizer about five minutes later when sophomore Gianluca Marini (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) skated in all alone, but sophomore goalie Kalle Andersson (Taby, Sweden) batted the puck aside to preserve the lead.
The Owls cashed in on a power play chance of their own late in the second period when senior Jake Ratcliffe (Auckland, New Zealand) one-timed a shot just under the Andersson's glove to tie the game at 1-1.
Junior Lukas Holmqvist (Lerum, Sweden) blasted a shot from the blue line forcing the Westfield goalie to make a kick save. The loose puck ended up right in the slot for Laurin, who deposited it to the back of the net for the game winner 3:17 into the third.
Freshman Ethan Stuckless (Conception Bay South, Newfoundland) collected a high pass from junior Jovan Zimmerman (Boulder, Colo.) midway through the third leading to a 2-on-1 break. Stuckless hit Nasstrom with a tape-to-tape pass and Nasstrom cashed in, lifting a wrist shot over the right shoulder of the goalie to cap the scoring with 10:47 left to play.
The Panthers launched 103 total shots, with 50 ending up on target as Westfield State blocked 28 attempts. The Owls finished with 27 shots on goal.
PSU was 1-for-3 on the power play, while Westfield went 1-for-2.
Tyler Shugrue stopped 47 shots for the Owls.
Andersson finished with 26 saves to pick up his eighth win of the season (8-2-1).
-- release courtesy Plymouth State Sports info