Last March, the NCAA tournament field saw both these teams receiving bids as winners of their respective conferences and the seeding positioning them against each other in the first round, hosted by UNE. Fast forward to March of 2023 and the MASCAC champion Panthers get to play host in a return matchup with the Nor’easters who received an at-large bid to this year’s national tournament. The result last year was a 3-2 overtime win for UNE that catapulted them to the Frozen Four so the question is what will this year bring for the familiar foes?
“I think it is great recognition for our team that we have earned the opportunity to host an NCAA tournament game,” said Plymouth State head coach Craig Russell. “We would have been pleased with any matchup but know at this time of the year that we are happy to still be playing and know that we will be facing all good teams. Just happy to show results with this group which may be the best of the four consecutive teams to win the conference title here.”
“Losing to Curry in the CCC tournament was hard on the team,” stated UNE head coach Kevin Swallow. “All the games fell the right way for us in the balance of the conference tournaments for us to get in and we are excited to play again this weekend. The team is very motivated coming off a loss and we are very familiar with a very good PSU team.”
This year’s edition of the first-round contest sees a shift in the experience level of the respective benches in addition to the change in venue for Saturday’s contest. Both could have impacts in how the game ultimately plays out.
“We have a very experienced group of players on our roster,” stated Russell. ”We have great leadership and depth and guys that have been through this before. They know what it is going to take to break through and win their first national tournament game. They have remained focused and don’t get flustered even if we fall behind in games. They stick to our process and find ways to get it done with contributions from a lot of different players.”
“We had a very experienced roster last season when we made our run to the Frozen Four,” noted Swallow. “I think we set expectations a little too high with this roster that has a lot back but really needed some of the younger players to step up. Discipline will be a key for us as they are a very good offensive team that puts your mistakes in the back of the net.”
Both teams return some high-end talent to the ice for the re-match and both coaches appreciate and respect the talent level they will face-off against on Saturday night.
“They have some very talented players returning on that roster including their goalie, Billy Girard and guys like [Jake] Fuss, [Alex] Sheehy and [Jared] Christy,” noted Russell. They have the experience from last year, so we need to play our game and hopefully get a win to springboard us in this tournament like they did last year after they beat us.”
“They have a very experienced team,” said Swallow. “[Myles] Abbate is a very special and dangerous player for them and a big part of why they have had a special year – they haven’t lost on home ice this year! Their goaltender, [Brendahn] Brawley has also been very good replacing their starter that we saw last year. This should be a very good game and a big challenge for our team on the road.”
Puck drop between the Panthers and the Nor’easters is at 7 PM on Saturday at Hanaway Rink in Plymouth, NH.
