Well it took to mid-February but there was more than just a couple of games played this past weekend in two-game series and each of them was a sweep in some highly contested action. Here is a summary from this past weekend’s action:
Anna Maria v. Plymouth State
The AmCats finally got to play some real hockey but Friday night their penalties contributed to three Plymouth State power play goals in a 4-1 Panther win. Defenseman Simon Besner picked up a goal and an assist as did forward JR Barone with the man advantage to help secure the win.
On Saturday, the AmCats came out flying and outshot PSU 13-3 in the first period but could not get the puck past goaltender Kalle Andersson. The second period saw momentum shift to PSU as they outshot AMC by a 43-8 margin over the final 40 minutes and secured the 2-0 win on third period goals from Marcus Seidl and Myles Abbate. Julius Huset stopped 44 of 46 shots for Anna Maria to keep it close but PSU really shutdown the AmCat offense for the weekend sweep.
Babson v. New England College
These two NEHC rivals took to the ice with Babson having already played two games while NEC was just kicking off play in real game action. The rust didn’t show for the Pilgrims on Friday night as they raced to a 2-0 first period lead on goals from Alex Laplante and Jhuwon Davis. From there on it was all Beavers as Nick Rosa, Matt Wiesner and Ryan Black each recorded a goal and an assist for the home team who rallied for a 4-2 win. Brad Arvanitis made 27 saves to pick up his second win of the season.
On Saturday the venue switched to Henniker, NH and it was the visitors who got on the board first on a John Corrigan goal that was the only one of 20 first period shots to beat Anthony Kormos in the Pilgrim net. Babson’ Mike Egan increased the lead to two goals, but NEC quickly answered on Anthony Cinato’s first of the season. That would be all the scoring as Kormos kept the score close stopping 51 of 53 shots in the 2-1 loss.
Chatham v. Stevenson
In the pair of games that both went to the Mustangs by identical 4-1 scores, the games had very similar patterns that led to the outcome. On Friday, Mac Lowry scored for Stevenson just over a minute into the first period to give the home team the early advantage. Tristan Simm answered for the Cougars with a power play goal and the period ended in a 1-1 tie. With no scoring in the second period, Stevenson scored three unanswered goals in the third period, including Lowry’s second of the night for the 4-1 win. Marko Sturma earned the win in net with 19 saves.
On Saturday the first period again ended in a 1-1 tie, but Stevenson didn’t wait to the final period to get the offense going. Anthony Starzi and Luke Benitez scored in the second period to give Stevenson a 3-1 lead and Matt Cappucci added his first of the season in the third period for the final goal of the game. Ryan Kenney picked up the win in goal making 22 saves.
Three Biscuits
Simon Besner – Plymouth State – quarterbacked an efficient Panther power play by scoring a goal and adding an assist in a 4-1 win over Anna Maria on Friday.
Mac Lowry – Stevenson – scored two goals in the season opening win over Chatham including the game winning goal on the power play in the third period.
Anthony Kormos – New England College – the Pilgrim netminder stopped 51 of 53 shots to keep his team close in a 2-1 loss to Babson on Saturday.
There was also some great exhibition play this past weekend with Utica splitting a pair of games with the USA U-17 squad. More action to take us into March and while there is no NCAA tournament, just playing competitive hockey during the pandemic is a win for the schools and players on the ice.
