Worcester State Battles Against #12 Plymouth State in MASCAC Duel for Top Seed

Worcester, MA- On Saturday evening, the Worcester State Men's Hockey team was back in action to take on #12 ranked Plymouth State, hoping to obtain win number 11 in MASCAC play. Unfortunately for Worcester State, Plymouth State was able to play elite hockey in front of their sell-out crowd as the Panthers defeated the Lancers by a score of 5-1.

Heading into the game, Worcester State's main goal was to stay competitive with a nationally ranked team in Plymouth State. Early on in the game, sophomore Jakub Kubik (Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic) denied a couple of promising scoring chances for the Panthers. With 11:33 remaining in the first period, Will Redick provided the Panthers an early 1-0 lead that sent the Plymouth State crowd into a frenzy. Then a few minutes later, Redick scored his second goal in front of the Worcester State net off of great puck movement to give the Panthers a 2-0 edge. For the remainder of the period, the Lancers were able to contain Plymouth State's offense to keep their deficit at two goals heading into the first intermission.

As the second period began, Worcester State was determined to cut the two-goal Plymouth State lead to one. Worcester State was able to place a few pucks toward the Panther's net, but the shots went wide. Plymouth State executed their shut down defense into offense when Peyton Schaly found the back of the net to increase the Panther's lead to 3-0. A little under 3 minutes later, Redick was able to tally a hat trick to provide a commanding 4-0 advantage. The Lancers went on their first power play with about seven minutes remaining in the period, but could not get on the scoreboard as the game remained 4-0 heading into the second intermission.

In the third period, Worcester State tried to play a productive final twenty minutes of hockey. Within the first two minutes of the period, Schaly tried to score his second goal of the game, but Kubik made a nice save. Just before the sixteen-minute mark, Plymouth State went on the power play, but the Lancer's power play kill prevented a goal from crossing the red line. With just over nine minutes to go in regulation, junior Brian Clougherty (Lynn, Mass.) was able to place Worcester State in the scoring column when he controlled a nice pass from sophomore Shane Prifrel (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) to place the puck into the Plymouth State goal. Ben Chipman was able to record an empty net goal to place Plymouth State up 5-1. Panthers senior goalie Brendahn Bradley recorded 20 saves as he helped his team to a 5-1 victory over the Lancers.

What's next:

Worcester State (11-11-1, 10-5-1) will remain on the road on February 16 when they take on Salem State with puck-drop at 7:00. Plymouth State (19-3-1, 16-0) will hit the road on February 16 when they compete against Framingham State with puck-drop at 7:40.