PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Sophomore Josh Woody (Sunderland, Md.) tallied a goal and two assists and classmate Gordon Ceasar (Oak Park, Calif.) made 28 saves Thursday evening to lead Plymouth State University to a 5-1 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in non-conference men's ice hockey action at Hanaway Rink.
Junior Mike Freitag (Westmont, Ill.) added a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 5-8 on the season. Freshman Patrick Kearns (Brick, N.J.) potted the only goal for the Leopards, who suffered their fourth straight loss and fell to 4-10-1.
The first period was fairly uneventful, with no goals and just one penalty until Plymouth State broke the draught with a minute to go in the frame. Sophomore Zach Fox (Sandown, N.H.) finished off a 3-on-2 goal for the Panthers from the right post with some nice passing from Freitag and Woody.
Kearns put Wentworth on the board at 7:32 of the second period, tying the score when he snapped a shot from the right circle that snuck through traffic past Ceasar for his first career goal. PSU took the lead for good at 11:10 when junior Chad Barthelmess (Norristown, Pa.) broke in alone on the goalie after a Wentworth defensemen fell down, and Barthelmess went five-hole for his third of the season. Freitag also skated in on a breakaway during a Leopard power play late in the period, scoring a short-handed goal for his fifth of the season and giving the Panthers a 3-1 lead after two.
The Panthers put the game away with a pair of third-period goals. Freshman Ian McGilvrey (Omaha, Neb.) snapped in a shot from the right circle at 13:27 for his sixth of the season, with an assist from Woody, and then Woody deflected home a shot from the point by senior Dave Walters (Ottawa, Ont.) for a power play goal in the final minute, his sixth of the campaign as well.
Ceasar recorded his first victory for PSU since joining the team two weeks ago as a transfer from Utica College. Junior Alex Peck (Kirkland, Que.) made 18 saves for Wentworth as the visitors out-shot the Panthers, 29-23.
PSU returns to Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action Saturday with a visit to Salem State University for a 2:00 p.m. face-off. Wentworth is idle until Saturday, Jan. 18, when the Leopards host Assumption College in a non-conference affair.
(Recap courtesy of Plymouth State Sports Information)