The early proceedings in this conference playoff matchup saw both teams trying to find their footing. When they did, however, the scoring chances were plentiful. Westfield State, particularly their first forward unit, looked as though they were punching above their weight for a good portion of the first stanza and ended up with a respectable 14 shots on goal in the opening frame to Plymouth State’s 20. However, Patrick O’Connell opened the floodgates for PSU just under 11 minutes into the period, putting a phenomenal wrister past Owls netminder Valtteri Valtonen (who received the nod for the start despite Kevin Chandler’s exceptional shutout performance in the quarters two days ago). While O’Connell did not beat him clean, this goal, if anything was more impressive because of that. He exploited the space he was given on his shot, as well as the weakness that Westfield was showing on the right wing side, positioning himself well to open the scoring. A few minutes passed before Payton Schaly put Plymouth up 2-0 on the power play, with captain Anton Jellvik following up just 18 seconds later. At this point, Bob Miele did some mop up duty by pulling Valtonen in favor of Chandler. The Owls did not fold, as they showed some tenacity before the period came to a close, but they were not able to get on the board and the first intermission came with the score remaining 3-0.

We saw a very different story in the second frame, as WSU appeared to have an edge. They got their energy going fast as they forced a turnover before PSU could properly get their cycle going, leading to a great rush goal just 28 seconds in by Gianluca Marini. The rest of the second stanza saw them create great chances including Ryan Moorhouse testing Panthers goaltender Kalle Andersson with a one-timer in close. Both goalies had to be called upon a lot in this period, with Andersson stopping 14 of 15 and Chandler having a perfect 15 of 15 to his name. Overall, WSU looked phenomenal both in 5-on-5, showing plenty of fight and playing well in transition, and on special teams, as their PK did its job against one of the most fearsome power plays in D3 and with their power play creating a lot of pressure. PSU did have a bit of an advantage in winning puck battles along the boards and also won the faceoff matchup 14 to 8 in this stanza, but WSU did not look like they were going away. Though the deficit remained at 2 goals at the end of the second, the Owls put in the sort of performance that inspired confidence.

The final stanza saw the Panthers have an answer for every chance created by the Owls by their counterattack and sustaining pressure upon successful zone entries on 5v5 and pressing very hard on the PK as they seemed to hem the Owls in their own zone in every game situation even when Westfield State showed some of their strengths. Most notably, however, Plymouth State would take advantage of their power play opportunities. Their total shot attempts advantage would be 21 to 10 in the last frame. They would put a wrap on things and punch their ticket into the MASCAC Championship finals in pursuit of their fifth consecutive conference title via two power play goals in the third period by Rider McCallum and Ethan Stuckless, making the final score 5-1. Chandler had the heart of a lion in this game for WSU, stopping 31 of 33 shots and allowing no goals on even strength. It is worth contemplating if he could have anchored an even more impressive group performance and even an upset win had he played the full 60 minutes. Westfield State may have lost by an unflattering scoreline on the surface, but they showed a considerable amount of determination and talent in their group against a powerhouse, and just one or two factors (such as potentially the starting goaltending choice, which may have also helped facilitate play going the other way in addition to Chandler clearly having maintained his form from the semifinals and discipline/whistle troubles, as 3/5 goals surrendered were power play goals) swinging the other way may have at least seen a closer scoreline if not an upset. However, we ultimately will see Plymouth State try to capture yet another conference title against the Fitchburg State Falcons one week from today.