Box Score

PLYMOUTH, N.H. -- Plymouth State University senior Sean Buckley (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) put in the go-ahead score 2:39 into the third period and then assisted on the eventual game-winning goal by junior Chris Zaremba (Colorado Springs, Colo.) with 7:04 left as the Panthers held on for a 6-5 victory over the University of New England men's hockey team in the PSU Invitational final played Friday afternoon at Hanaway Rink.

UNE senior Jack Nolin (Somersworth, N.H.) tallied his second goal of the contest with 11 seconds remaining to provide the final margin.

PSU senior Andrew Stewart (O'Leary, Prince Edward Island) registered assists on both third-period goals, and with two scores on Thursday, earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player distinction. Plymouth State (7-1-2) pushed its unbeaten streak to eight games with the win, while the Nor'easters fall to 2-7 overall.

After Big Blue opened the scoring seven and a half minutes into the match on a goal by junior Ted Fabian (Oakland, Maine), off the first of three assists by first-year Sean Sullivan (Worcester, Mass.), the hosts responded with four unanswered goals over the next 19 minutes to grab a 4-1 lead in the second period.

PSU junior Bryan Kriner (Newport, R.I.) found the back of the net for the second and fourth goals during the stretch, giving the Panthers a 2-1 edge after one period with a power play score and then upping the margin to three 6:11 into the second. Kriner also assisted on the first Plymouth State goal.

Nolin put home a power play goal at the 13:44 mark of the second to pull UNE within two (4-2), before junior Mike Tiano (Dover, N.H.) and sophomore Tyler Fleurent (Biddeford, Maine) scored 50 seconds apart late in the stanza to level the contest at 4-4 heading into the third period.

Tiano and Fabian joined Panther sophomores Kyle Greco (Hillside, Ill.) and Richie Zobak (Evergreen Park, Ill.) on the all-tournament team, along with PSU first-year goalie Tyler Ingerson (Concord, N.H.) and Becker College's David Graham. The Hawks dropped Salve Regina University in the consolation match by a score of 8-2.

UNE senior goalie Mike Roper (New Glasgow, Nova Scotia) made 28 saves in the game, while his counterpart, sophomore Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Sweden), recorded 20 stops.

Plymouth State is off until January 9, when it visits Wentworth Institute of Technology for the first of two games in as many days against the Leopards in Boston. The Nor'easters return to ECAC East action next Friday (Jan. 7) against New England College at 7 p.m.