Plymouth State Closes Regular Season With 7-3 Victory Over Salem State

SALEM, Mass. -- Myles Abbate scored a hat-trick and added two assists as #11 Plymouth State upended Salem State 7-3 on "Senior Day" at Rockett Arena on Saturday afternoon. The victory completes an undefeated conference regular season for the Panthers, who went a perfect 18-0 in the MASCAC while earning their 21st victory of the season (21-3-1). Salem State slips to 7-18 and 5-13 in the conference. Plymouth State drew the top seed in the upcoming Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Post-Season Tournament, which begins next week. Salem State earned the sixth and final seed.   

The Vikings honored seniors Kyle Waldusky (Naperville, Ill.), Luke Pepin (Lee, N.H.), Eamonn Miller (Victoria, British Columbia) and Connor Woolley (Poghquag, N.Y.) in a pre-game ceremony for their dedication and commitment to the men's ice hockey program.  

Payton Schaly, who scored two goals, started the scoring for Plymouth State as Rider McCallum found Schaly in the slot for a one-timer and 1-0 lead. Abbate made it 2-0 with a shot off the post at 12:08 and later netted his second score of the opening period on a 4-on-4 as the Panthers took a 3-0 lead into intermission. 

Niks Krollis tipped in a pass early in the second for the fourth unanswered goal to open for the game for the Panthers. Keagan O'Donoghue finally put Salem State on the board with a power-play goal, but Abbate quickly answered with his third score of the game, a power-play goal at 12:27 of the second period. Erik Larsson added his 14th goal of the season, tying him for the the conference-lead with teammate Zach Dill and Plymouth State's Carson Lanceleve, to make the score 5-2 at the close of the second. 

A misplay by Plymouth State set-up Salem State's third goal as Evan Cronkhite's shot from the blue line got past Brendahn Brawley early in the third. However, Lanceleve scored the Panthers' second power-play goal of the game as Plymouth State took a 6-3 lead just past the midway point of the third. Schaly capped the scoring with a goal at the 18:22 mark as the Panthers won 7-3. 

Brawley made 31 saves for the Panthers, who held a 45-34 advantage in shots. Aaron Mercer stopped 38 shots for Salem State.