Ice Hockey Closes Regular Season with Loss at Plymouth State

Plymouth, N.H. – Sophomore goaltender Gordon Ceasar (Oak Park, Calif.) stopped 14 shots to post his second straight shutout Saturday night as Plymouth State University blanked Framingham State University, 4-0, in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey action at Hanaway Rink.

The Panthers out-shot the visitors, 43-14, pulling away from the Rams with single goals in the first two periods and finishing them off with two in the third. Freshman Ian McGilvrey (Omaha, Neb.) led the Panthers with a goal and an assist.

PSU extended its unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2), improving to 12-10-2 overall. The Panthers maintain a share of first place in the MASCAC with a 10-5-2 record, with one game to play. Framingham State, 10-10-4 overall, dropped its second straight and wraps up the regular season in fourth place in the MASCAC with an 8-7-3 mark. The Rams were 2-19-3 overall and 0-15-3 in conference games a year ago.

Junior Nick Cafrelli (San Jose, Calif.) played a solid game in the Framingham State goal, making 39 saves. Cafrelli made 47 saves against PSU at Hanaway Rink back in December as the Rams upset the Panthers, 4-2.

The home team dominated the first period, denying Framingham its first shot on goal for nearly 12 minutes while firing 10 shots on Cafrelli. The Panthers finished with a 12-3 shot advantage, but led just 1-0 on the 10th goal of the season by freshman Mike Economos (Crystal Lake, Ill.). Junior Zach Sarig (Reading, Pa.) fired a shot on goal from the right point; Cafrelli made the save but Ecomonos scored on the rebound.

The Panthers doubled their lead at 8:37 of the second period when McGilvrey sent a pass from behind the net to junior Chad Barthelmess (Norristown, Pa.) in front, and Barthelmess buried his 11th of the season.

PSU put the game away with a pair of third-period goals while shutting down the Rams, preventing a shot on goal for the first 17 minutes and gaining an 18-2 shot advantage. Senior Phil Arnone (Litchfield, N.H.) scored his second goal of the season on a partial breakaway after some nifty passing at the blue line by freshmen Baxter Strachan (Sioux City, Iowa) and Ryan Callahan (Londonderry, N.H.) sent Arnone in alone. McGilvrey rounded out the scoring with a power play goal, his 11th of the season, after a nice pass from sophomore Zach Fox (Sandown, N.H.) to McGilvrey at the right post gave McGilvrey an open net.

The MASCAC regular season concludes on Tuesday with PSU visiting Westfield State University. Westfield trails conference co-leaders Salem State and Plymouth State by one point in the standings; Salem State hosts Worcester State on Tuesday.

Release courtesy of PSU Sports Information.