Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Men's Ice Hockey team (1-3, 0-0-0) remain on the road tonight as they begin their MASCAC slate of games. The Lancers begin their season with perennial powerhouse Plymouth State on their home ice, in a flash back to the end of the 2023 season that saw these two meet in the MASCAC Championship.

Final

Worcester State: 2

Plymouth State: 8

How it Happened:

Worcester State's defense would be out to the test early as Plymouth State was on the attack early. An early penalty on the Lancers would add to the challenge but the Lancer power kill was up to the quest, keeping the Panthers off the board early. In the 9' minute, Plymouth would finally manage to navigate the cracks to open the scoring. The final six minutes of the period found success for Plymouth as they extended their lead to three off two goals in under two minutes.

Worcester would quickly take charge of the second period scoring the opening goal just over three minutes in off an junior Anders Gronstad (Royal Oaks, MI) goal that would look to begin the offensive attack of the Lancers. The two teams would battle it back and forth but Plymouth would manage to sneak in goal number four to reclaim the three goal lead. Worcester would not allow that to stand for long as senior Martin Dlugolinsky (Statra Libovna, Slovakia) would rocket in goal number two for Worcester off the rebound shot from sophomore Christian Howanitz (Boulder, CO). The Lancers went on the attack for the remainder of the period energized to close the gap on the Panthers but as time expired Worcester was still left with the third period take of being two goals down.

Plymouth would reclaim their three goal lead early in the third and hold on for another quick under two minute two goals to keep Worcester away from any comeback dreams by pushing the lead to 7-2. The Panthers would add one more for good measure to claim an 8-2 final to win the day in the Lancers MASCAc opener.

Seniors Jakub Kubik (Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic) would end the night with 36 saves while fellow senior Wyatt Friedlander (Lake Placid, NY) would claim 10 on the night. 

What's Next:

The Lancers (1-4-0, 0-1-0) have just under a week away from games before they are back in conference action, this time on home ice, as they host Rivier in their first conference meeting for the most recent MASCAC program to join.