Box Score
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team scored early and often in a dominant 7-1 win over the Middlebury Panthers in a non-conference game Friday night at the Stafford Ice Arena.
With just 36 seconds off the clock, a Middlebury (5-7-2, 4-2-2 NESCAC) turnover in front of the net allowed Dillan Fox to find Mark Constantine, who lifted a backhanded shot high over starting goaltender Liam Moorfield-Yee to give Plattsburgh a lead it would not relinquish.
Eight minutes later and six seconds into a Plattsburgh (10-5-1, 6-1-1 SUNYAC) power play, Andrew Smith had an open net to bury a rebound off Preston Kaye’s shot to put the Cardinals ahead, 2-1. Barry Roytman also added an assist on Smith’s third of the year.
Plattsburgh’s second goal cued the end of Moorfield-Yee’s night as Nick BonDurant took over in between the Middlebury pipes. The rookie goalie finished with 12 saves on 14 shots in 8:36.
The Panthers came within one at the 18:09 mark when Evan Neugold cashed in a power-play opportunity with a shot through the screen that found its way past Cardinals’ netminder Mathieu Cadieux.
The Cardinals’ offense proved to be too much for Middlebury with Plattsburgh adding five unanswered goals to ensure to the victory. Michael Cassidy tallied his first point of the evening at 3:27 of the middle stanza, knocking home a rebound from Max Balaban. Cassidy had a career-night four the Cardinals with a goal and four assists.
Balaban notched his first collegiate goal at 15:45 of the second with a wrister for the top of the near circle, beating BonDurant on the stick side to stretch the Plattsburgh lead to 4-1.
In the midst of a rash of penalties, Jared Docking scored a short-handed goal off the crossbar at 17:34 to give the Cardinals a four-goal lead.
Balaban taps in a rebound at 13:11 of the third for his second of the night before sophomore defensemen Preston Kaye rounded out the scoring with a power-play marker at 18:34 for his first collegiate goal.
Plattsburgh wore down Middlebury as the game rolled on, owning a 13-1 edge in shots on goal in the final 20 minutes. The Cardinals finished with a 43-19 advantage.
In a physical affair, the two teams combined for 17 penalties and 34 penalty minutes. The Cardinals went 2-for-6 with the extra skate while the Panthers went 1-for-4.
Cadieux improved to 7-5-1 after turning away 18 of the 19 shots he faced. BonDurant made 13 stops in 31:24 while Mike Peters stepped in for the third period, recording 11 saves.
Plattsburgh faces another crucial non-conference matchup tomorrow night when No. 13 Williams College arrives at the Stafford Ice Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
