Box score
GENESEO, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team suffered its first conference setback in a back-and-forth affair as Geneseo dealt the Cardinals a 5-3 loss in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) matchup Friday night.
The Cardinals held a slight 12-10 edge in shots on goal through the first 20 minutes but the two teams remained scoreless after one period of play. But the tides changed in the second period as Plattsburgh State and Geneseo combined for five goals.
The Ice Knights grabbed the first lead at the 4:47 mark of the second on Zachary Vit's team-leading 14
th of the year from Jack Ceglarski and David Ripple. Plattsburgh State responded at 6:15 with a power-play goal by Ryan Farnan, but Geneseo quickly regained the lead just 18 seconds later when rookie forward Stephen Collins scored off assists from Ryan Stanimir and Derek Stahl to give the Ice Knights a 2-1 lead.
The visiting Cardinals came back with Connor Gorman's seventh of the season at 8:35 from Kevin Emmerling and Patrick Hermans to tie it up at 2-2 but the offensive outburst continued with a goal by Stanimir with 5:55 left in the middle frame to put Geneseo up by a score of 3-2.
Plattsburgh State evened the score for the third time Friday night when Barry Roytman's one-timer hit the post and beat Geneseo goaltender Bryan Haude to make it a 3-3 game with 3:15 gone in the third period.
After the Cardinals' third goal, Geneseo ramped up the offensive pressure but Plattsburgh State goaltender Mathieu Cadieux stood tall, making a number of big saves in the third to keep the game tied through next 10 minutes of play. Cadieux matched a season-high of 31 saves in the Cardinals' loss, bringing his record to 14-3-2 on the year.
Geneseo got the go-ahead goal past Cadieux at the 14:05 mark when Ripple punched home a rebound on the power play to give the Ice Knights a 4-3 lead. Justin Scharfe added an empty-net goal with 1:08 left in the game to reach the 5-3 final.
Haude was also impressive in between the pipes for the Ice Knights, stopping 39 of the 42 shots he faced to earn the victory and improve to 9-3-0 overall.
With the loss, Plattsburgh State drops to 15-3-2 overall and 8-1-2 in the SUNYAC. Geneseo improves to 14-4-0 on the year and 8-1-0 in league play. Friday's outcome also makes the SUNYAC race a bit tighter as the Cardinals remain in the top spot with 18 points but the Ice Knights sits closely behind in second place with 16 points. Buffalo State and Oswego did not play Friday night and follow with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Plattsburgh State looks to bounce back Saturday night as the Cardinals head to Brockport for the final road game of the regular season. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Tuttle North Ice Arena.
