Panthers crush Pilgrims in “Teddy Bear Toss”

Marc Tavernese

He/Him

Staff Writer

12/14/23

Friday night, while being busy for students heading into finals week, saw the Panthers host New England College’s Pilgrims at home for one of the most fun games on the calendar; The Teddy Bear Toss. 

Plymouth State entered the game with a (9-1-2) overall record coming off a 6-1 victory against Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Salem State, while New England College who was (2-8-1) entered the contest after a crushing 9-1 against Salve Regina University.

The game started for the Panthers as they were able to take an early first-period dominance in New England College’s defensive zone, able to take a few early shots on senior Kai Tomita, but no goals nonetheless. While Plymouth kept overwhelming the Pilgrims early, their first shots were way more planned and organized, as well as their defense as they displayed a great power play kill against Plymouth with 10 minutes left. It soon became a back-and-forth battle of even offense and defensive power between both teams, but Austrian center Paul Waldhauser would score a power-play goal for New England College with a little less than 5 minutes left in the 1st period, breaking through the Panthers’ tough power-play kill in the final seconds.

The Panthers would need to respond soon, and they would get the opportunity early in the beginning of the 2nd period with a power play starting just about 1 minute into the period. #24 Carson Lanceleve, the forward out of Nova Scotia, would capitalize 40 seconds into their power-play and score, tying the game 1-1, and with that goal the teddy bears rained onto the ice. The bears tossed would all be donated to the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth to help patients stay jolly heading into the holidays and boy did the almost 900 fans in attendance not disappoint.

The 2nd Period would continue to be a physical battle, as with 8 minutes left New England College got another power play opportunity, but could not get a great offensive push on the Panthers power play kill. The Panthers would then grab control of the game, with 5:19 left with a goal by #8 Will Reddick, taking a 2-1 lead and that goal being his 15th on the season. The second period would end with another NEC power play with 3:02 left, but once again was unsuccessful against the Panthers’ defense.

With this game looking like it could still be anyone’s entering the 3rd period, #18 Will Pray on the Panthers would put the nail in the coffin scoring a goal early with 13:41 left, making it a 3-1 contest. Seconds after the goal, the game would get to its peak chippiness with New England College having back-to-back power plays, one at 13:33 and the other at 7:31 left in the 3rd. With the frustration brewing on the Pilgrim’s bench, they would need to capitalize on these major opportunities but hit a major roadblock, that being the Plymouth State Panthers power play kill. NEC coach Tom Caroll would make the decision with high risk with a chance of high reward to pull Tomita out of the net to add and extra skater with 2:33 left in the 3rd, but #10 Andrew Stuckless would bury that coffin with a goal with 1:33 left, making the final score a 4-1 victory for the Plymouth State Panthers. 

4 Different players got goals for Plymouth State tonight, showing their strength in numbers within their lines which is a great sign for future games of the season, goalie Kalle Anderson ended the night with 20 saves, only allowing one goal leading to a .934% save percentage. The Panthers will return to Hanaway Rink on January 6th of the new year to face off against another MASCAC team, the (7-3-1) Westfield State Owls, while the Pilgrim’s next game is on the road on December 13th, 2023 a non-conference matchup against (8-4-0) Anna Maria College.