Men's Ice Hockey Cruises to 7-0 Win Over Buffalo State

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Seven different student-athletes scored—including freshman defenseman Matt Araujo (Brookhaven, N.Y./Boston Jr. Rangers) and freshman forward Christian DiFelice(Thorold, Ontario/Buffalo Jr. Sabres), who netted their first collegiate goals—as the Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team rolled to a 7-0 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win over Buffalo State Friday night at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. Sophomore goaltender Jimmy Poreda (Tonawanda, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) made 21 saves to post his second shutout of the season. The Cardinals finished with a 31-21 edge in shots on goal, went 1-for-3 on the power play and scored a shorthanded goal, which came from senior forward Cam Owens (Wilmington, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) midway through the second period. The Bengals, meanwhile, were unable to capitalize on any of their six power-play opportunities. Owens and senior forward Pat Egan (Rochester, N.Y./Lone Star Brahmas) led the Cardinal offense with three points each. Owens finished with a goal and two assists, while Egan distributed three assists. Plattsburgh State rises to 4-3-1 overall (4-1-1 SUNYAC) with the win and next hosts Fredonia tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last year's SUNYAC Tournament first round game. Buffalo State falls to 3-4-1 overall (1-3-1 SUNYAC) with the loss and visits SUNY Potsdam tomorrow at 7 p.m. Araujo put the Cardinals on the board 3:47 into the contest with his first collegiate goal. Sophomore forward Rich McCartney (Hershey, Pa./Philadelphia Revolution) stopped a centering pass with his skate in the high slot, and Owens quickly fed Araujo down at the bottom of the right face-off circle. Araujo one-timed the puck past the Bengal goaltender to hand Plattsburgh State a 1-0 advantage. Junior defenseman Charles Barber (Queensbury, N.Y./New York Bobcats) scored his second career goal on the power play 6:01 into the second period. Egan passed to Barber on the point from along the right boards, and Barber fed Owens in the left face-off circle. Owens quickly passed back to Barber, who one-timed a slap shot top shelf from the point. With 12:08 elapsed in the second period, Owens scored shorthanded. Junior defenseman Philip Middleton (Vail, Colo./Salmon Arm Silverbacks) battled through a scrum along the left boards in the Cardinals' zone to get the puck forward to senior forward Ryan Kuhn (Wheatfield, N.Y./Niagara University), and Kuhn sprung Owens forward. With just the goalie to beat on the breakaway, Owens slid the puck under the Bengal netminder's pads. Junior defenseman Andrew Pizzo (Thorold, Ontario/Niagara University) scored his first goal of the season at the 14:54 mark of the second period. Senior forward Cole Stallard (Atlanta, Ga./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) led the Cardinals on the rush by finding Egan on the left wing in the neutral zone, and Egan spun around on the outside edge of the left circle to gain separation from a Bengal defender. Egan then centered a pass to Pizzo in the high slot, and Pizzo went top shelf glove side. McCartney buried his team-leading seventh goal of the season with 6:17 gone in the third. Kuhn won a battle for the puck along the right boards in the Bengals' zone, and he passed to McCartney just outside the right circle. McCartney took on three Buffalo State defenders driving to the net and deked the goalie to score. DiFelice also earned an assist on the play. DiFelice did all the work from start to finish on his first collegiate goal at 12:47 of the third period, which started with DiFelice putting a body in front of a Bengal shot from the point. The puck deflected off DiFelice and sprung him forward into the neutral zone. With a breakaway and just the goalie to beat, DiFelice used a smooth wrist shot from the slot to score blocker side. Finally, with just 32 seconds left in regulation, Stallard buried his third goal of the season. After Buffalo State possessed the puck briefly in its zone, Egan wrested it away before Stallard scored on the doorstep. Buffalo State's freshman goaltender Trevor Micucci made 19 saves against four goals allowed in 34:54 of work, while freshman goaltender Tyler Myers stopped five shots against three goals allowed in 25:06 of action.