MIDDLEBURY, VT. – The Plattsburgh State men's hockey found themselves in the third-place game in the PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut against the host Middlebury, defeating the Panthers 4-2 Saturday evening.
The Cardinals scored the first four goals of the game before conceding two late power play goals in the third period.
Kevin Emmerling put Plattsburgh State out front in the first period when his shot was deflected by a Middlebury defending before finding the back of the net 10:34 into the game.
Plattsburgh State would tally two in the second frame as this time Emmerling assisted on a Dillan Fox goal. Three minutes later Connor Gorman would redirect a Mark Constantine shot to net home a power play goal for the Cardinals and give them a 3-0 through forty minutes.
To start the third, Middlebury would fall down 4-0 after turning the puck over to Anthony Calabrese. Calabrese quickly slid a pass to Michael Cassidy who one-timed it home.
The Panthers would claw back scoring two within two minutes. First was Jake Charles tipping in a Max Greenwald shot from the point. Then was Vincent Gisonti cutting the lead in half to 4-2 as he sent in a goal off a rebound opportunity.
Spencer Finney started in net for the Cardinals Saturday remaining perfect on the season at 5-0-0 while the Panthers started Stephen Klein for the first-time in his collegiate career. The freshman made 35 saves on 39 shots.
Calabrese was the lone Cardinal to be selected to the PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut all-tournament team.
For the first-time ever, the invitational team from the west won the PrimeLink tournament as the Concordia (Minn.) Cobbers defeated the Norwich Cadets 2-1 in a shootout. The game will officially go as a 2-2 draw. Last year was the first year that the west had ever won a game in the PrimeLink when Wisconsin Superior also defeated the Cadets in the third-place game.
Plattsburgh State is now 8-1-0 (7-0-0 SUNYAC) as they return back to their SUNYAC schedule this Friday and Saturday as they host both games this weekend. First up is arch-rival Oswego State as both teams are the only two teams remaining unbeaten in the SUNYAC conference. The Cardinals will follow Oswego State on Saturday against the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
