Falcons Blanked By Panthers

McGrath stops 42 shots for Green and Gold

Plymouth, N.H. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team dropped a tough 3-0 decision to the Panthers of Plymouth State University this afternoon in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action from the Hanaway Riink.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 0, Plymouth State 3
Records: Fitchburg State (11-5-0, 9-3-0 MASCAC) Plymouth State (12-4-2, 9-2-1 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Plymouth State grabbed a 1-0 edge at the 11:35 mark of the first period as junior Jacob Laurin (Stockholm, Sweden) redirected a shot of the stick of sophomore Anton Nasstrom (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden) into the back of the net for his first marker on the season.

The Panthers doubled their lead with just over one minute remaining in the opening frame when Nasstorm deposited the puck into the upper right corner for his second goal of the year to make the score 2-0.

In the middle stanza, the hosts upped its margin (3-0) at the 15:12 mark with senior Mike McPherson (Somerville, Mass.) settling a pass from sophomores Whim Stalberg (Gotenburg, Sweden) and Jeromey Rancourt (Lewiston, Maine) and connected on his third tally of the 2021-22 campaign .

In the final period of play, Fitchburg State threatened as juniors Wyatt Wilmshurst (Massena, N.Y.), Hunter Fortin (Westerville, Ohio) and Joshua Miller (Saint Augustine, Fla.) put a trio of shots on target, but sophomore keeper Kalle Andersson (Taby, Sweden) denied all three shots, resulting in the 3-0 final.

By the Numbers

• 68th meeting between the Falcons and Panthers on the ice with Fitchburg State 29-31-8 all time when taking on Plymouth State
• Worcester State finished with a 45-26 margin in shots
• Fitchburg State went 0-for-4 with the man advantage
• Senior Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.) turned aside 42 shots for the Falcons
• Andersson made 26 saves for the Panthers

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Thursday as they host the Vikings of Salem State for a MASCAC clash, starting at 6:30 PM. Panthers will host the Owls on the same date for a conference tilt at 6:00 PM.