FREDONIA — It wasn’t the kind of weekend the Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team was hoping for to end the first semester.
The second-ranked Cardinals (10-2, 6-2) dropped a 6-4 decision at Buffalo State on Friday night before rebounding for a 4-1 victory at Fredonia State on Saturday to split two SUNYAC contests on the road.
“It was a huge win on Saturday after losing on Friday,” Plattsburgh head coach Steve Moffat said. “We had given up 11 goals in the previous two games and we felt it was a must-win game for us leading into the break.
“We wanted to end the semester on a good note and a 10-2 (overall) record going into the break is still pretty good.”
PLATTSBURGH 4
FREDONIA 1
The game was scoreless until the 7:53 mark of the second period when Kurri Woodford gave the Blue Devils the lead.
The Cardinals, however, finally broke through on goals by Paul Bryer and Tio D’Addario later in the stanza to take a 2-1 lead.
“I felt we controlled play and had a lot of scoring opportunities,” Moffat said. “They scored first on a shot that deflected off one of our defensemen.
“But it was one of those game where you felt the gates would open after somebody scored. After they did, we were able to get two pretty quick ones.”
Luk Jirousek then gave Plattsburgh a 3-1 advantage just 1:16 into the third and Bennett Stockdale added an empty-net goal with 29 seconds remaining.
“Scoring that early in the third was a key for us,” Moffat said. “We played smart with the lead in the third period and didn’t give up any odd-man rushes.”
Jacob Hearne stopped 19 of 20 shots in the Plattsburgh nets to get the win.
BUFFALO STATE 6
PLATTSBURGH 4
The Bengals broke a 4-all tie late in the game when Parker Allison tallied a power-play goal with 2:09 remaining.
Nick Stuckless then added an empty-net goal with 34 seconds left.
The Cardinals fell behind, 2-0, in the first six minutes of the game and it was an uphill battle the rest of the way. Plattsburgh would tie it a 3-all and 4-all, but never could take the lead.
“We allowed two two-on-ones in the first six minutes of the game and they took a 2-0 lead,” Moffat said.
“We didn’t capitalize on our chances and hit the post three of four times. and every time we made a mistake they capitalized on it.”
Stockdale, Thomas Maia, Trey Thomas and Aaron Catron scored goals for the Cardinals.
Connor Bizal, Tyler Penree, Joe Glamos and Vadim Kiriakov also tallied for the Bengals. Former Northeastern Clinton Central School standout Aidan LaValley added two assists. It marked the most goals Buffalo State has scored in a game this season.
“I was proud of the team for the way we came back to tie it at 3 and then at 4,” Moffat said. “But we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Plattsburgh lost the game despite a 45-24 advantage in shots on goal. Eli Shiller stopped 18 of 23 shots in the Cardinals’ nets.
Plattsburgh is now off until Jan. 5-6 when its hosts the Comfort Inn Complex Winter Classic at the Stafford Ice Arena, with Nazareth, Albertus Magnus and Rivier University the three teams coming to town.
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Friday
Buffalo State 6, Plattsburgh 4
PSU 0 3 1 — 4
BSU 2 1 3 — 6
First period- 1, BS, Bizal (Glamos, Kwestel), 1:54. 2, BS, Penree (Meure, Kiriakov), 6:22.
Second period- 3, PSU, Stockdale (Tretowicz), 4:58. 4, BS, Glamos ppg (Kiriakov, Blango), 8:11. 5, PSU, Maia (Jirousek, Catron), 8:43. 6, PSU, Thomas (Stockdale), 12:56.
Third period- 7, BS, Kiriakov ppg (Blango, LaValley), 5:11. 8, PSU, Catron (Jirousek, Maia), 5:48. 9, BS, Allison ppg (Morin, LaValley), 17:51. 10, BS, Stuckless eng (Allison, Glamos), 19:26.
Shots on goal- Plattsburgh, 45-24.
Saves- Shiller, PSU, 18. Cumberworth, BS, 41.
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Saturday
Plattsburgh 4, Fredonia 1
PSU 0 2 2 — 4
FSU 0 1 0 — 1
Second period- 1, FS, Woodford (Kimball), 7:53. 2, PSU, Bryer (Belgrave), 12:42. 3, PSU, D’Addario (Bulger, Lanyi), 14:47.
Third period- 4, PSU, Jirousek (Catron), 1:16. 5, PSU, Stockdale eng (D’Addario), 19:31.
Shots on goal- Plattsburgh, 34-20.
Saves- Hearne, PSU, 19. Charles-Barbeau, FS, 30.