PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - The Plattsburgh State women’s hockey team is gearing up for the ECAC West tournament this coming weekend. The no. 2 seeded Cardinals will be taking on no. 4 Oswego State Saturday in the semi-final at host team R.I.T.’s Ritter Arena. R.I.T. will be hosting Potsdam in the first semi-final Saturday, with the two semifinal winners will meet for the 2012 ECAC West Championship on March 4 at 2 p.m. The ECAC West Champion will receive an automatic berth into the 2012 NCAA Division III Women’s Hockey Championship Tournament.
Fans can follow the 2012 ECAC West Tournament at these links:
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Game Program
No. 5 in the latest USCHO.com poll, the Cardinals (17-5-3, 15-1-2 ECAC West) enter the tournament as the two seed, with a 17-5-3 record. Cardinals Teal Gove, Emma Rutherford and Sydney Aveson each took home year-end awards from the ECAC West recently. Gove was named as the ECAC West Player of the Year and leads the Cardinals with 38 points on 18 goals and 20 assists. Rutherford garnered Rookie of the Year honors and has netted 14 goals this year. In net, ECAC West Goaltender of the Year Aveson is 15-4-2 with a 1.59 goals against average and .929 save percentage. She was 13-1-1 with a 1.04 goals against average and .951 save percentage in league play. Aveson is second in the nation with six shutouts in 23 games.
Plattsburgh, the nation’s fourth best offense (4.52), enters the game with five newcomers among their top seven scorers, including four freshmen. Alyssa Parke and Allison Era lead the nation’s eighth ranked defense (1.62), with 21 and 20 points respectively. Parke is the team’s leading defenseman with five goals and 16 assists and was named to the All-Rookie team, while Era was named to the ECAC West second team after scoring five goals and adding 15 assists.
The Cardinals haven’t won an ECAC West championship since the 2006-7 season and will attempt to play in its 11th straight conference championship game.
The Cardinals have faced Oswego twice this season on the road. In the January 21 meeting, Parke connected for two goals and two assists, sending the Cardinals on their way to a 5-0 win. The next day, the Cardinals scored four goals in a three minute span to cruise to a 6-0 victory.
Oswego (11-13-2, 8-8-2 ECAC West) advanced to Saturday’s semi-final game after recording the programs’ first ever playoff victory against Neumann in the ECAC West first round. The Lakers posted a 3-0 shutout as former Cardinal Mackenzie Lee registered three assists and freshman goaltender Bridget Smith stopped 18 shots. Lee is the team’s leading scorer with 18 points on 10 goals and eight assists. Defenseman Jillian Bergeron had notched a team-high 11 assists, while Megan Howe was an All-ECAC West honorable mention selection. Smith is 6-4-1 with a 2.25 goals against average and .912 save percentage for the Lakers.
The Cardinals handed R.I.T. their only blemishes this season, tying 1-1 on Jan. 13, and then winning 3-1 on Jan. 14, both in Plattsburgh. Plattsburgh defeated Potsdam twice earlier this year, once at home (5-0) and once on the road (5-2).
