Box Score

CORTLAND, N.Y. – Despite dominating play at times throughout Friday’s State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game, the Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team failed to muster much offense, playing to a 3-3 tie against SUNY Cortland at the Alumni Ice Arena.
 
Plattsburgh’s Alex Brenton gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead at the 5:00 mark of the opening period when he knocked in his own rebound after skating in from the right corner. Just 45 seconds later, Cortland’s Mike Henrici tied the game with an unassisted goal that deflected in off a defenseman's stick who was trying to block the shot.
 
The Red Dragons took the lead at 8:13 of the first period when Adam Bevilacqua forced a turnover at the right side boards and fed a pass to Matty Davie who beat Cardinals’ goaltender Mathieu Cadieux with a wrist shot.
 
With 1:38 remaining in the first, Jared Docking threw the puck in front from the right side, tying the game with a goal that deflected off a Cortland skate and past Lyle Rocker.
 
The Cardinals maintained possession of the puck for the majority of the second period, but had little to show for it until the 19:09 mark when Plattsburgh State was able to cash in a two-man advantage. Rookie forward Luke Baleshta fired a one-timer in close from the left side, beating Rocker to make it 3-2 in favor of the Cardinals.
 
Plattsburgh (6-2-1, 5-1-1 SUNYAC) held on to the one-goal lead until the 7:08 mark of the third when Cortland’s Michael Lysyj netted the game-tying goal. Tyler Virgoe slipped a pass into the slot from the right side where Lysyj sent a wrist shot through traffic, sending the game to overtime.
 
The Cardinals outshot the Red Dragons, 3-1, in the five-minute overtime, but neither team generated a quality scoring chance. Plattsburgh struggled with the man-advantage, going 1-for-8 on the power play, while Cortland (2-6-2, 2-4-1 SUNYAC) was unsuccessful on its only attempt.
 
Cadieux made 29 stops for the Cardinals in the tie. Rocker finished the night with 31 saves for the Red Dragons.
 
Two games against nationally-ranked opponents remain for the Cardinals before the semester break. Plattsburgh wraps up the first half of conference play tomorrow night against top-ranked Oswego. Tomorrrow’s game at the Campus Center, which is sold out, is set to begin at 7 p.m. The Cardinals return home Friday, Dec. 7 to close out the semester against No. 2 Norwich University.