After winning their respective semifinal games on Tuesday night, Plymouth State and Salem State are set for a third straight meeting in the MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Championship on Saturday at 2 pm.

Plymouth State 6, Fitchburg State 2 Box Score

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Senior Andrew Wigg (Lantz, N.S.) tallied a goal and two assists Tuesday evening as second-seeded Plymouth State University upended third-seeded Fitchburg State University, 6-2, in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's ice hockey semifinal at Hanaway Rink.

The Panthers improve to 21-4-1 overall and advance to their fifth straight MASCAC championship game. PSU will look to defend its title and win its third MASCAC championship in five years this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at top-seeded Salem State University, as the Vikings edged fifth-seeded Westfield State University in overtime in the other semifinal, 5-4. Fitchburg State concludes its season at 11-14-2.

PSU got goals from six different players and finished with a 34-25 advantage in shots on goal. Freshman Colby Lanceleve(Stewiacke, N.S.) collected three assists and senior goaltender Gordon Ceasar (Oak Park, Calif.) made 23 saves to post the victory to improve his season record to 18-3.

Plymouth State scored all six of its goals in the second half of the game, with three coming on the power play and one short-handed. The upset-minded Falcons led 1-0 midway through the game but PSU took control with three straight goals to close out the second period, and added three more in the third period to seal the win.

Fitchburg State got on the scoreboard first, five minutes into the second period. Junior Cameron Snyder set up senior Ryan Connolly on the left side and he dumped his 10th of the season into an open net.

PSU finally broke through with seven minutes to play in the middle period on a short-handed goal by Wigg, converting a 2-on-1 with freshman Tim Perron (Northborough, Mass.) for his 10th of the year. Two minutes later the Panthers took the lead on a power play goal by junior Tommy Dowell (Olathe, Kans.), scoring his first of the season on a shot from the left point that went top shelf through a screened goaltender. Junior Dan Dupell (Collegeville, Pa.) pounded home a loose puck just inside the right post two minutes after that to make it 3-1 after two periods.

Junior Ryan Callahan (Londonderry, N.H.) extended the margin to 4-1 four minutes into the third with some nifty stick handling around the goalie and sliding the puck in on a backhander. Fitchburg got one back four minutes later when Ricky Kramer scored from along the right end line, but PSU tacked on goals by senior Josh Woody (Sunderland, Md.) and junior Ian McGilvrey(Omaha, Neb.) to seal the win.

Salem State took two out of three regular season meetings against Plymouth State this winter. PSU won the first one on Nov. 14 at Salem, 5-2, but the Vikings claimed the next two, winning 4-1 in Plymouth on Jan. 16 and 3-1 in Salem on Feb. 11.

Salem State 5, Westfield State 4 OT Box Score

Salem, Mass. -- Salem State captain Cam Moniz (Seekonk, MA) netted the game-winning goal in overtime as the Vikings snuck past the Owls of Westfield State 5-4 in dramatic fashion in the semifinal round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference playoffs on Tuesday evening at Rockett Arena. The Owls erased a four-goal deficit only to come up short in overtime. #1 Salem State will now face-off against #2 Plymouth State for the MASCAC Championship at home on Saturday, March 5^th. Game time is set for 2:00 PM. The Panthers and Vikings will meet for the fourth time in the last five seasons for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The teams have split the last two title games with Plymouth State winning 6-2 last season, and Salem State earning the championship in 2014 with a 5-1 victory.

An exciting first period occurred as Salem State came out firing at Westfield State goalie Jonathan LoParco (Vaughan, ONT), scoring four goals on only seven shots. Michael Casale (Stoney Creek, ONT) netted the Vikings first goal when he tipped in a Gabriel Cromp (Montreal, QC) wrist shot from the point. Moments later that line struck again when Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, RI) found Brandon Platt (Pittsburgh, PA) on a 2-on-1 and Platt rifled a one-time slap shot in the upper left corner to give the Vikings an early 2-0 lead. That line wasn't finished as Casale increased Salem State's lead to 3-0 when he pick pocketed an Owls' defender in front of Westfield State goalie LoParco for the easy goal. Platt and Bettencourt connected again with roles reversed as Platt fed Bettencourt on a 2-on-1 opportunity for a 4-0 lead. Despite the deficit, Westfield State outshot Salem State 12-7 in the period. The Owls did get one back when Wyatt Trumblay (Campbell River, BC) wristed a shot past Vikings netminder Marcus Zelzer (Green Bay, WI) to cut Salem State's lead to 4-1.

Despite a slow start in the first period when they surrendered four goals, the Owls' offense came out strong in the second period to erase the three-goal deficit. Three minutes into the period Aaron Clancy (Quincy, MA) brought Westfield State to within two goals when he put home a rebound off a Kyllian Kirkwood (copper Cliff, ONT) slap shot from just inside the blue line. The Owls' offense couldn't seem to miss as they tallied their third goal moments later when Dalton Jay (Hamilton, ONT) received a tremendous pass from Kirkwood from the slot of their own zone where he beat Zelzer on a breakaway to bring the score to 4-3. With momentum on their side Westfield State knotted up the game at 4-4 when Johnny Orlando (Georgetown, MA) snuck one past Zelzer's right pad off a Jeremy Young (Lynnfield, MA) rebound. Salem State wasn't able to answer as both teams scored four unanswered goals to enter the final period tied at 4-4.

Lots of drama in the final period as the Vikings' goal scorers couldn't catch a break. First, Derek Makimaa (Swartz Creek, MI) found a trailing Michael Chen (Rockville, MD) for a goal that was called back due to the net being dislodged. Casale had quite the period as he had two goals called back. First, he rang the inside of the post that caused a premature celebration from the Salem State crowd. In addition, with :17 left, Casale sprinted up the ice for a final rush as he found the back of the net with a wrap around, but it was called back yet again as an Owls' defender knocked the net out of position. These controversial calls caused the game to head into overtime tied at 4-4.

It took 5:30 into the extra period before Moniz put the game-winner past LoParco off a dump and chase from the defense for the Vikings to finally eliminate Westfield State. Salem State improves their record to 21-5 while Westfield State ends the season 13-14.

Zelzer moves to 17-1 as he stopped 31 shots in the game. LoParco (13-13) made 20 saves in the loss. The Owls outshot the Vikings 35-25.
 

Releases courtesy of Plymout State and Salem State Sports Information