Top seed Plymouth State and sixth seed Salem State are set to meet for the 2022 MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament title on Saturday after winning their semifinal contests on Tuesday night.

#1 Plymouth State 8 #7 Framingham State 4   Box Score

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Top-seeded Plymouth State University erupted for five goals in the second period, then survived a rally from seventh-seeded Framingham State University to top the Rams, 8-4, in the semifinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Ice Hockey Tournament on Tuesday night at Hanaway Rink.
 
Plymouth State, seeking a third straight MASCAC Tournament championship, will host the winner of sixth-seeded Salem State in the title game Saturday (Mar. 5) at 4:00 p.m.
 
PSU held a 1-0 lead after the first period but exploded for three goals in the first 4:37 of the second. The Panthers added a pair of scores just 1:29 apart midway through the frame before the Rams got on the board during a five-on-three power play with three seconds left in the stanza.
 
Framingham State rode the momentum to three straight goals in the third period, including two more power play strikes, to cut the deficit to 6-4 with 5:05 left to play. Plymouth State answered with an empty netter, though, and added an insurance tally 32 seconds later to put the game out of reach.
 
Plymouth State improves to 18-5-2 and will attempt to become the league's first three-peat champion on Saturday. The Panthers will be appearing in the title game for the ninth time in the last ten seasons.
 
Framingham State ends its year with a 3-21-1 mark. The Rams advanced to the semifinal round for the first time in program history after upsetting second-seeded Fitchburg State, 1-0, in a first round game last Saturday.

#6 Salem State 4 #5 Westfield State 2   Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Joe Smith (Holbrook, Mass.) scored two goals, including an empty-netter late to lift #6 Salem State past #5 Westfield State 4-2 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinal contest on Tuesday at Amelia Park Ice Arena. The Vikings (12-12) advance to the championship game and will face top seed Plymouth State on Saturday at 4:00 PM. Westfield State's season comes to a finish at 13-12-2.  

Salem State got the scoring started at 12:29 of the opening stanza when a rebounded shot from Connor Woolley (Poghquag, N.Y.) was finished off by Richard Coyle (Weymouth, Mass.) after a brief scrum in front of the goal. The Vikings would further their lead to two 15 minutes and 58 seconds into the second period, as Woolley slid one past Westfield's Valtteri Valtonen (Helsinki, Finland) for his first goal and second point of the night.

Joseph Carbone (Marshfield, Mass.) would bring the Owls to within one with 13 seconds ticks left on the clock in the second period. Carbone blasted wrister that found top-left twine with Andrew McCormick (Canton, N.Y.) and Chuck Costello (Philadelphia, PA) each recording assists on the score.

Westfield found themselves in a man-down situation eight minutes into the third period which Salem took advantage of as Erik Larsson (Lake Tahoe, Calif.) wheeled into the offensive zone and found Smith across the crease, giving Salem a two-goal lead once again.

The Owls would continue to rally and apply pressure in the offensive zone which paid off 14 minutes and 35 seconds into the final stanza. Senior captain, John-Michael DiGregorio (Montreal, Quebec) found twine after catching a cross-crease pass from Mathieu Jones (Gatineau, Quebec), cutting the Vikings lead in half. Andrew McCormick was also in on the play, tallying his second helper of the game. 

The late push from Westfield unfortunately came up short as Smith  iced the game on an empty net strike with 12 seconds left in regulation for his second goal of the evening. 

Salem's Aaron Mercer (Corner Brook, Newfoundland) finished with 39 saves on 41 attempts. The Owl's goalie Valtteri Valtonen made 35 saves on 38 shots faced. Westfield outshot the Vikings, 41-39.

Release courtesy of Plymouth State and Salem State Sports Information