Gover Stops 61 shots, Men’s Hockey Still Fall to Plymouth State

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Ice Hockey team welcomed the Plymouth State Panthers to the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink for a MASCAC matchup. MCLA's Mathew Gover stopped 61 shots but the Panthers overpowered the Trailblazers with a barrage of shots and seven goals.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
• Score: Plymouth State 7, MCLA 1
• Records: Plymouth State University Panthers 18-6-0 (MASCAC 15-2-0) | MCLA Trailblazers 4-18-2 (MASCAC 4-11-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Plymouth State scored three times in the opening period to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. The first goal was on a power play by Brendan Doyle (at 9:18, assisted by Lucas Jones and David Matousek). The second was credited to Dante Moretti (12:10, Matousek and Rider McCallum), and the third to Andrew Stuckless (18:23, Jones and Doyle).
• The Panthers extended their lead with a pair of tallies in the second frame. The first was scored by Andrew Stuckless (2:50, Doyle and McCallum) and the second on the power play by Will Pray (7:56, Ethan Stuckless and Severi Sulonen).
• The visitors then sandwiched two more goals around an MCLA power play goal. Cameron Patton (5:26, Sulonen and McCallum) notched the early goal while Pray (16:43, Ethan Stuckless and Patton) picked up his second of the night with the man advantage.
• MCLA scored their loan goal in the third period on a power play. After the Panthers cleared the puck from their defensive end, the Trailblazers' sophomore forward Quinn Murphy (Champaign, IL / Philadelphia H.C.) went back to recover it and skated in along the right-side boards before dropping the puck back to sophomore forward Cade Herrera (Brentwood, CA / Seahawks H.C). Herrera skated through the slot and found sophomore forward Easton Moore (Red Deer, AB / Florida Eels) wide open near the left faceoff dot. Moore (8:13, Murphy and Herrera) finished the deal, wristing a shot between the left pipe and the goalie. The goal was the fourth of the season for Moore and the assists were the sixth for Murphy and ninth for Herrera.
• Plymouth State's Brandon Shantz stopped 33 of 34 shots faced to improve to 15-5-0.
• MCLA's Mathew Gover had a season high 61 saves while falling to 4-18-2. Gover's 61 saves was the second highest single game save total in all of division III this season, trailing only Salem State's Will Nepveu's 65 save effort against Endicott on December 10^th.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: Plymouth State 68, MCLA 34
• Saves: Plymouth State 33, MCLA 61
• Faceoffs Won: Plymouth State 40, MCLA 32
• Penalty/Minutes: Plymouth State 4/8:00, MCLA 7/14:00
• Power Plays: Plymouth State 3 for 6, MCLA 1 for 3

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when it hosts Framingham State at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink for a MASCAC matchup with the Rams. The puck will drop at 8 p.m. Please arrive early as the team will be honoring their senior class prior to the game.

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