On Jan. 31, the Keene State Men’s Ice Hockey team took on the Plymouth State Panthers in a close conference matchup. The Owls entered Saturday’s matchup looking to snap their nine-game losing streak. Despite a strong effort and a late rally, the Owls fell short, extending their losing streak.
With 1:31 in the first period, Plymouth State’s junior forward Patrick O’Connell scored the first goal of the night, demonstrating that the Panthers were not going to make it easy for the Owls. Both teams were awarded two power plays in the first period, with Keene State having a total of five shots that did not make it into the net.
The second period became interesting for both teams as the Panthers scored on a power play, increasing the lead to 2-0. Roughly three minutes later, the Owls responded back when senior forward John Belisle cut the lead in half. However, the Panthers did not let up and with another power play, they scored with 1:31 remaining in the second.
The Owls refused to back down, and just 28 seconds later, junior forward Marcus Chrisafideis found the back of the net. But with time winding down, first-year defenseman Tucker Shedd also found the net late in the period, putting Plymouth State back on top by two and sending the teams into the third with momentum swinging the Panthers’ way.
Heading into the final period, the Owls looked to rally and close the gap, determined not to let the game slip away. They were awarded two power plays, with PSU first-year forward Kim Hilmersson getting a call for hooking, and later PSU had too many players on the ice. It looked like the Panthers were falling apart just seconds after the second power play expired. Sophomore forward Peter Unger brought Keene State closer to tying the game, with assists from other sophomore forwards Thor Hansen and Luke Festa.
After KSC scored their third goal of the night, each goalie was unstoppable in net, both saving seven shots while Keene had 12 shot attempts compared to PSU’s 11 shots.
The Owls decided to pull out their sophomore goalie Ben Skelton with 1:08 left in the game to add an extra forward into the game to try and tie it up at the last second. They got one extra shot in. Ultimately, senior goalie Brandon Shantz saved the shot and secured the win for the Panthers, making their conference record 8-4-1 and their overall record 11-8-1.
With the loss to PSU, Keene State Men’s Ice Hockey team is now 1-12 in the conference with an overall record of 5-14. The Owls will head to Western Connecticut on Saturday, Feb. 7, to take on their Little East Conference opponents.
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