Plymouth, NH --- Plymouth State freshman Josh Woody (Sunderland, MD) scored two goals, including the game-winner four minutes and 10 seconds into overtime Thursday evening to give the Panthers a 3-2 victory over Worcester State in a MASCAC men's ice hockey contest at Hanaway Rink.
The win clinches a second consecutive MASCAC regular season championship for Plymouth State, and guarantees the Panthers the top seed and home-ice advantage in the upcoming MASCAC Tournament.
PSU won its third straight outing to improve to 17-6-0 overall and 13-3-0 in conference games, while Worcester State dropped to 6-15-2 overall and 3-11-2 in the MASCAC. The Panthers are 3-1 in overtime games this season. PSU is also 10-1 on home ice this winter.
The home team took a 2-0 lead, only to see the Lancers battle back to tie the game.
Woody notched his first of the game on a power play with five minutes to go in the first period, snapping a wrister from the slot after a nice pass from behind the net by senior Alex Cottle (West Chester, PA).
Senior Kyle Greco (Hillside, IL) made it 2-0 in the first minute of the second period, picking up a loose puck in the offensive zone a firing a shot that beat the goalie top left.
Junior Travis Stevens (Montclair, CA) assisted on both Panther goals.
Down 2-0, the upset-minded Lancers didn't give up and worked their way back into the game.
Junior Derek Serbon (Crown Point, IN) put the visitors on the board with a power play goal at the 4:53 mark, tipping in a shot from the point by sophomore Cody Osburn (Sacramento, CA).
Junior Ryan Quirk (Brockton, MA) scored a key goal for Worcester State with just 35 seconds left in the middle frame as he snuck behind the Panther defense and found himself in alone on the goalie, stuffing the puck underneath to tie the score at 2-2.
Plymouth State outshot Worcester State 13-2 in the third period, but couldn't get a go-ahead marker.
Time was winding down in the extra session when freshman Andrew Wigg (Lantz, NS) picked up the puck, circled behind the Lancer goal and found Woody in the high slot, Woody then fired home the game-winner, his second goal of the night and sixth of the season.
PSU finished with a 37-22 advantage in shots on goal.
Senior goalie Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden) earned the victory in the Panther goal, improving to 13-4 on the season. Freshman Drew Case (Plano, Texas) had a solid game in the Worcester State goal, finishing with 34 stops.
Prior to the game, Plymouth State honored its seniors on Senior Night, and all 14 players were in the line-up for the game.
PSU is back in action with a MASCAC game Saturday afternoon at UMass Dartmouth, while Worcester State plays its final two at home on Monday and Tuesday against Framingham State and Salem State.
Full Release Courtesy of Plymouth State Sports Information.