PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women’s hockey team scored two goals in the second half of the third period but fell short as No. 7 Amherst defeated the No. 4 Cardinals, 3-2, in the first game of the Cardinal-Panther Classic.
The two teams battled to a scoreless first period before Ellen Swiontkowski buried her own rebound at 1:57 of the second period to but the Lord Jeffs up 1-0. At 17:42 of the same period, Anne Gillard took a shot that Plattsburgh goaltender Sydney Aveson stopped but Barrett McBridge crashed the net and found the back of the net to give Amherst a 2-0 lead after two.
With 4:54 gone in the third, Melissa Martin made it 3-0 Amherst with her third of the year from Josie Fisher and Swiontkowski.
Morgan MacInnis put the Cardinals on the board at 10:59 of the third with a power-play goal from Ashton Hogan. Chelsea VanGlahn cut the Plattsburgh deficit to 3-2 at the 12:55 mark, tipping in a shot from Jenny Kistner.
Plattsburgh held a 31-27 edge in shots on goal. Sinead Murphy made 29 saves in her second victory for Amherst. Sydney Aveson recorded 24 saves in her first loss of the year.
Middlebury and Elmira will face-off in the second game of the evening at 7 p.m. The Cardinals (5-1-1, 4-0-1, ECAC West) will play in the consolation game tomorrow at 2 p.m. Amherst (3-0-0, 2-0-0 NESCAC) advances to the championship game set for 5 p.m. Sunday.
Boxscore
Photo Gallery - Courtesy of Gabe Dickens
Elmira 0, Middlebury 0 (OT)
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Despite heavy pressure from the Elmira offense in the third period, the Middlebury College women’s hockey team withstood the storm as the two teams battled to a scoreless tie in the second game of the Cardinal-Panther Classic at the Stafford Ice Arena.
The first two periods saw both teams up and down the ice. Middlebury (2-0-1, 2-0-0 NESCAC) held a slight 8-7 edge in shots after the first period, while Elmira (5-1-1, 4-0-0 ECAC West) had a 14-12 advantage after two. The Soaring Eagles stepped it up in the final period with 15 shots on goal while holding the Panthers to just three. Neither team was able to get a shot on net in the overtime period.
While the game lacked standout scoring opportunities, both goaltenders gave strong performance to preserve the shutout on each end. Elmira’s Lauren Sullivan recorded 15 stops and Middlebury’s Annabelle Jones finished the night with 29 saves.
Maggie Melberg’s shot went wide to the right of Sullivan for the Panther’s first attempt in the shootout. Middlebury’s second shooter, Hannah Bielawski, was the only Panther to score while Sullivan made a big save on the Panthers’ final shooter, Sara Ugalde.
On the Elmira side, Maddy Charbonneau’s shot sailed high in the first round of the shootout. Sophomores Tori Charron and Tanis Lamoureux both found the back of the net on their attempts to secure Elmira’s spot in Sunday’s championship game.
Plattsburgh and Middlebury will face-off in the third-place game tomorrow at 3 p.m. The championship game will follow at 5 p.m. featuring Elmira and Amherst.
Boxscore
