PLATTSBURGH — This was one of those overtime games where in some ways it felt like a loss.
The Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team was on the verge of a huge non-conference victory over Norwich University on Wednesday night that had national implications.
The Cadets, however, scored two goals late in the third period to erase a 4-2 deficit and the two nationally-ranked teams settled for a 4-all overtime tie.
“This is our second game in a row where we have let a win get away from us with a tie,” Plattsburgh head coach Steve Moffat said. “We can’t let that happen.”
The tie doesn’t hurt the No. 4 Cardinals (15-3-2) in the Division III national rankings, but a win would certainly have helped their cause.
The game was tied at 2-all entering the third period before the Cardinals grabbed a 4-2 lead on goals by Aaron Catron at 11:33 and Jake Lanyi at 14:26.
But the 12th-ranked Cadets (12-6-4) rallied when Johnny Johnson scored a power-play goal at 16:10 and then Ben van Waterschoot a goal to tie it at 17:41.
The Cardinals had some chances to win it in overtime, but first had to kill off a penalty that carried over from the end of regulation. Plattsburgh’s best chance was on a shot that went off the post in the extra session.
“We played 55 minutes of good hockey,” Moffat said. “We played really well for the first 15 minutes of the third period.
“But our players thought we had the game won when it got to 4-2. Norwich is a good team that can score and come back on you.”
It was also a night of frustration for the Cardinals when it came to penalties. No question, the Cardinals took some ill-advised penalties.
But the final tally was a disparity, with the home team getting called for eight and the visitors three. Norwich went 2-for-7 with the man advantage and the Cardinals were 0-for-2.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead on Joshua Belgrave’s first-period goal.
The Cadets then rallied for a 2-1 advantage in the second on an even-strength goal by Owen Sclizzi and a power-play goal by Clark Kerner.
Norwich had Plattsburgh on the run when the Cardinals were called for another penalty. That’s when Moffat called a needed timeout.
“I thought we were a little rattled,” he said. “They took a 2-1 lead and then we took another penalty. I called the timeout because we had to settle down and kill off the penalty. We were able to do so and then we regained the edge by scoring a goal.”
Trey Thomas pulled the Cardinals into a 2-all tie when he scored at 9:14.
Bryce Walcarius turned away 28 shots in the Norwich nets and Eli Shiller 25 for Plattsburgh.
“We played great 5-on-5,” Moffat said. “But we have to stay out of the box.”
The Cardinals now head back into SUNYAC play for their five remaining regular season contests. Next up is at Potsdam on Saturday at 7 p.m.
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Plattsburgh 4, Norwich 4, OT
NOR 0 2 2 0 — 4
PSU 1 1 2 0 — 4
First period- 1, PSU, Belgrave (Tretowicz, Bulger), 5:28.
Second period- 2, Nor, Sclizzi (Hilfiger, Johnson), 3:51. 3, Nor, Kerner ppg (Bertrand, van Waterschoot). 6:05. 4, PSU, Thomas (Stockdale, Poorman), 9:14.
Third period- 5, PSU, Catron (Benson, Weaver-Vitale), 11:33. 6, PSU, Lanyi, 14:26. 7, Nor, Johnson ppg (Kerner, O’Mara), 16:10. 8, Nor, van Waterschoot (Lewis), 17:41.
Shots on goal- Plattsburgh, 32-29.
Saves- Walcarius, Nor, 28. Shiller, PSU, 25.