Panthers notch 3-1 win against Rams on senior night

John LaPierre

He/Him

Staff Writer

2/10/24

On Feb. 10, The Plymouth State Panthers welcomed conference opponent Framingham State University Rams to campus for the Panther’s senior hockey night. The Panthers are first in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference with an overall record of 18-2-2 and an in-conference record of 15-1-2. Meanwhile, the Rams come into the contest with an overall record of 8-12-2 and an in-conference record of 8-8-2.

The first period got underway with the Panthers winning the opening faceoff, going on to generate some shots in the offensive zone.The Panthers got straight to business laying the body and hits against the Rams players. Forward Payton Schaly tallied the first goal of the game for the Panthers at 15:41. The Panthers were controlling the faceoff circle winning a majority of the encounters. Goaltender Kalle Andersson got hit by a Rams player, but the Panthers were careful not to retaliate too hard and possibly face an ejection before playoffs. Plymouth State got the first powerplay of the game with a Framingham tripping call. At 6:29, the Panthers went to the penalty kill from a Colin Tracy penalty. At the 3:45 mark, the Panthers saw themselves on the penalty kill once again from a Will Reddick boarding call. Panthers out shot the Rams 13-8, leading 1-0 heading into the second round.

Opposite of the first period, the Rams won the opening faceoff. The Panthers went to the attack early on with some offensive zone time. Plymouth State hit the penalty kill again from a Nick Poirier boarding call and Forward Patrick O’Connell scored 11:13  with a rocket of a shot. Tensions started to arise around 8:43 for both teams. The Panthers had many scoring opportunities, but they were unable to capitalize on them. Finally, the Rams get on the board at 2:51. Forward Josh Kagan got ejected late in the period after a crushing hit on a Framingham State player. Forward Matt Tartaglio notched the third and last goal for the Panthers in the contest on a 3 on 2 breakaway. The Panthers continued to outshoot the Rams 31-15 heading into the third period. 

The Panthers won the opening faceoff to kick off the period, and both teams were getting some early looks for shots. Tensions continued to be carried over from the second period, and the Panthers were granted a power play because of this. At 10:19 the Panthers ended up on the penalty kill from an Eddie Mulligan hook. Both teams had plenty of opportunities to score but the goaltenders held their ground. The Panthers got a late power play at 2:49 and went on to win by a final score of 3-1. 

Shared Defenseman Donte’ Diponio expressed his excitement with the team’s win by commenting, “Any win is a big win, but winning the last home game of the regular season on senior night is a huge momentum booster for us. We have two big away games coming up to close out the regular season, and we hope to continue building momentum night after night heading into the playoffs.”

Coming up for the Plymouth State Panthers, they will travel to in-conference opponent Umass Dartmouth next Thursday for a 7:30 pm puck drop. As for Framingham State Rams, they will host conference opponent Massachusetts School of Liberal Arts next Thursday for a 7:40 pm puck drop.