Men's Ice Hockey Wraps Up Regular Season With 2-1 Win Over No. 3/3 Oswego on Senior Night

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team wrapped up the regular season with a thrilling 2-1 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win over archrival No. 3/3 Oswego State at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena Saturday evening on Senior Night. The victory extended the Cardinals' winning streak to four. Oswego is ranked at No. 3 in both the USCHO.com Men's Division III Top-15 Poll and the D3hockey.com Men's Top-15 Poll. As a part of Senior Night festivities following the conclusion of the game, the Cardinals honored seniors Jakob Engvall (Jönköping, Sweden/Ogden Mustangs), Pat Egan (Rochester, N.Y./Lone Star Brahmas), Cam Owens(Wilmington, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club), Cole Stallard (Atlanta, Ga./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs), Jesse Neher(Calgary, Alberta/Cowichen Valley Capitals) and Ross Sloan (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades) and juniors Antoine Fournier-Gosselin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec/Cégep de Saint-Laurent) and Antoine Desnoyers (Quebec City, Quebec/Cégep de Saint-Laurent). The Cardinals relied on yet another virtuoso performance in net by sophomore goaltender Jimmy Poreda(Tonawanda, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers), who turned aside 32 shots in the win. Oswego finished with a 33-20 edge in shots on goal, while both teams were scoreless on the power play, with the Cardinals going 0-for-5 and the Lakers going 0-for-3. Plattsburgh State finishes out the regular season at 12-11-2 overall (10-5-1 SUNYAC) and earned the No. 3 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament. The Cardinals host sixth-seeded The College at Brockport in the SUNYAC Tournament first round on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. Oswego wraps up its regular season at 18-5-2 overall (11-4-1 SUNYAC). The Lakers earned the SUNYAC Tournament's No. 2 seed and will host a semifinal-round game against an opponent to be determined on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. A pair of goals 36 seconds apart midway through the first period wound up being all the cushion the Cardinals needed in the contest. Freshman forward Christian DiFelice (Thorold, Ontario/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) scored unassisted at 7:59 of the first period to put Plattsburgh State on the board. DiFelice stole the puck from an Oswego skater in the Lakers' zone, skated toward the inside edge of the left face-off circle and fired a shot that beat the Oswego goaltender blocker side. Just 36 seconds later, Plattsburgh State struck again. Sophomore forward Liam Lawson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Powell River Paper Kings) won an offensive-zone face-off back to sophomore defenseman Tom Bowe(Homer, Alaska/Aspen Leafs), and Bowe wristed a shot from the left point that was deflected in by senior forward Ryan Kuhn (Wheatfield, N.Y./Niagara University). That score wound up holding through the end of the period, as the Cardinals entered the first intermission with a 2-0 lead. While neither team scored in the second, Poreda was forced to make 14 saves in the period. Plattsburgh State killed off the lone penalty assessed in the stanza. Oswego trimmed the gap to 2-1 at 9:38 of the third period. Senior forward Cameron Berry took control of a loose puck off a neutral-zone face-off and took a shot from the right point that Poreda turned aside with a blocker save. Freshman forward Tyson Kirkby then crashed the net and buried the rebound with a one-timer. The Lakers were hampered by penalties in the latter stages of the contest, including 47 seconds of a 5-on-3 power-play opportunity for Plattsburgh State. Oswego pulled its goalie for the final 1:03 of the contest in favor of the extra attacker, and Poreda came up with a pair of saves to preserve the victory. Junior goaltender David Richer made 18 saves in the loss for Oswego.

Print Frien