Ice Hockey Drops Heartbreaker in Overtime 5-4 at Plymouth State
Plymouth, N.H. – Sophomore Kyle Greco (Hillside, Ill.) scored the game-winning goal 57 seconds into overtime Saturday night, lifting Plymouth State University to a 5-4 victory over Framingham State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey game at Hanaway Rink.
There were four ties and three lead changes in the first 40 minutes of the game, but neither team was able to score in the third period, setting up the extra stanza. PSU out-shot the upset-minded Rams44-20 for the game, but needed Greco's 13th goal of the season, from sophomores Sean Foley Weymouth, Mass.) and Richie Zobak (Evergreen Park, Ill.), to seal the victory.
Plymouth State maintained its spot in third place in the MASCAC, improving to 14-4-5 overall and 9-4-3 in league play. Framingham State, which fell to 4-16-1 overall and 4-12-1 in the conference, is tied with Westfield State for the sixth and final play-off spot, with a week to go in the regular season.
The Panthers got goals from five different players, with Greco and freshman Travis Stevens (Montclair, Calif.) recording a goal and an assist each. Freshman Daniel Miressi (Monroe, Conn.) potted two goals and an assist to lead the Rams.
PSU senior Andrew Stewart (O'Leary, P.E.I.) scored first, just a minute and a half into the contest, to give the home team an early advantage. Framingham State came back with two unanswered goals just three minutes apart to take the lead, MIressi scoring his team-leading 16th of the season at 9:31 and junior Corey Chaney (Oxford, Mich.) following with his first of the season at 12:40. Stevens answered for PSU with his third of the season to deadlock the game at 2-2 after one period.
Sophomore JC Richardson (Fort Collins, Colo.) gave PSU the lead back early in the second period, putting in a rebound off a shot by classmate Alex Cottle (West Chester, Pa.). Framingham defenseman Tom Manning (Rockland, Mass.) evened the score at 11:47, picking up a loose puck and firing a slapshot in for his first goal in 62 career games, and MIressi's second of the game and 17th of the season made for the third lead change and put the Rams up, 4-3. Junior Bryan Kriner (Newport, R.I.) provided the answer for the Panther, evening the game at 4-4 entering the third period.
PSU, which scored on its first four power play tries, went 0-for-3 with the man-advantage in the third period, while came up empty on all six power play opportunities in the game, three in the third period.
Sophomore goaltender Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden) earned the win in the Panther goal, making 16 saves, while senior Terence Sullivan (Shirley, Mass.) was a tough-luck loser in the Rams net after making 39 saves.
PSU plays another key MASCAC contest Thursday at Fitchburg State before wrapping up the regular season next Saturday at home against Westfield State. Framingham State concludes the regular season with two home games, Tuesday with a non-conference affair against Southern New Hampshire and Thursday with a MASCAC contest against league-leading UMass Dartmouth.