WORCESTER, Mass. - The Worcester State University men's ice hockey team dropped its first league game of the season on Thursday evening, falling to Plymouth State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference action by a final score of 5-3 at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center.

With the loss, the Lancers fall to 4-2-0 overall this season. The Panthers jump to 3-2-0. Both teams move to 3-1-0 in MASCAC play.

Plymouth State dominated the play in the opening 20 minutes, scoring the game's first two goals before the teams headed to the locker room. Brett Backman and Myles Abbate scored the first period goals for the visitors.

Worcester State got on the board in the early stages of the second, as sophomore Brian Smith (Dracut, Mass.) stayed red hot with his fourth goal in the last three games at the 2:15 mark to cut the Panther advantage to 2-1. Henry Bruckner (Franklin, Mass.) and Deiter Stange (Niles, Ill.) were credited with assists on Smith's tally. 

Leo Stolpe regave the guests a two-goal lead with just over eight minutes to play in the second, but goals from Tim Drevitch (Oxford, N.J.) and Evan Schieber (Macon, Ga.) just 52 seconds apart tied the score at 3-3 headed to the third period. Petr Staif (Zruc-Senec, Czech Republic), Kevin Drevitch (Oxford, N.J.), Kyle Hayter (Helena, Mont.), and Nicholas Terry (Taunton, Mass.) all earned assists on the quick Lancers tallies.

Less than three minutes into the third, Jake Gerbner put the Panthers ahead for good on his first goal of the season. Simon Besner added an insurance goal with just under five minutes to play to put the contest out of reach.

Andreas Pettersson got the win in net for the Panthers, while Worcester State's Ryan Hoff (Brockton, Mass.) got the loss. Both goaltenders made 31 saves on the evening.

Worcester State will be back in action on Saturday evening for a non-conference contest against Assumption College at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center.

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