Plymouth State Holds Off Ice Hockey for 4-3 Victory

Plymouth, N.H. – Senior Chris Zaremba (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored a pair of goals Saturday evening to lead Plymouth State University to a 4-3 victory over Framingham State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey action at Hanaway Rink.

PSU pulled ahead 3-0 midway through the second period and then held on as the visitors rallied in the third.  Down 4-1 in the final frame, Framingham tallied a power play goal to cut the deficit to two, and after pulling its goalie in the final minute, scored again to pull to within a goal.  But time ran out on the Rams, and PSU (12-6-2 overall, 9-3-2 MASCAC) earned the victory and moved back into first place alone in the conference.

Sophomore Tom Tracy (Wakefield, Mass.) led the Rams with a goal and an assist, but Framingham dropped to 3-13-3 overall and 2-10-2 in league play.

Zaremba put the Panthers on the board just 1:20 into the game, taking advantage of a Rams' turnover at the blue line.  Zaremba intercepted a pass and worked a give-and-go with junior Alex Cottle (West Chester, Pa.) before Zaremba finished the play for his seventh goal of the season.  Freshman Kevin Ray (Hopkinton, N.H.) knocked home his own rebound after a scramble in front later in the period, scoring his first collegiate goal and putting PSU up 2-0 after one.

Freshman Mike Freitag (Westmont, Ill.) extended PSU's margin to 3-0 at 12:39 of the middle stanza, beating the goalie with a shot from the right circle for his second of the season.  The Rams got on the board with a power play goal with less than two minutes left in the second as junior Ben Pacific (Marlboro, Mass.) took a shot that was blocked by the PSU defense, but Tracy grabbed the loose puck and lifted a backhander into the top of the net to give Framingham State life heading into the third period.

Zaremba scored his second of the night on a PSU power play 9:14 into the final frame, collecting the rebound after Cottle's shot hit the post.  The Rams wouldn't quit, though, and senior Aran Ward (Dunstable, Mass.) pounced on his own rebound during a scramble in front of the goal for his second of the season at the 10:29 mark. With its goalie out in the final minute, Daniel Miressi (Monroe, Conn.) put one home with just under 20 seconds on the clock, but PSU ran out the final 20 seconds.

Framingham outshot the home team 11-2 in the second period and 12-6 in the third to finish with a 27-22 advantage for the game.  PSU junior goalie Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden) made 24 saves to earn the win, while sophomore Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, Calif.) finished with 18 saves for the Rams.

PSU has a week off before returning to the ice next Saturday, Feb. 11, with a visit to Salem State.  FSU returns home to host Westfield State on Thursday.

Release courtesy of PSU Sports Information.