NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The No. 2 ranked Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team traveled to Norwich for the 18th annual PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut tournament in a rematch of last year's consolation game against Middlebury. The Cardinals would top the Panthers 5-4 in an up and down affair.
 
The Panthers would strike a mere 39 seconds in to capture a 1-0 lead. Jake Charles would take a shot from the slot before collecting his own rebound and stuffing it past Cardinals goaltender Brady Rouleau.
 
Plattsburgh State would draw even four minutes later. Freshman Nick Belger roofed one from the hash marks over the glove of Panthers goalie Stephen Klein.
 
Two minutes later, Middlebury would make it 2-1 on a Matt Doherty goal. Doherty positioned himself on the left dot receiving a pass from Evan Neugold before beating Rouleau low far post.
 
After the second goal Rouleau would give way to senior goalie, Spencer Finney.
 
Two more freshmen would tally the next pair of goals for the Cardinals in a 2:15 span to give Plattsburgh State its first lead of the evening.
 
Jesse Neher would carry the puck from behind the net on his backhand before carrying it to the front and lifting one over Klein.
 
Cole Stallard would pick up where he left off from his hat trick performance last week by beating Klein over the glove with a rip from the slot to give the Cardinals a 3-2 advantage.
 
The second period would be a little quieter as the Cardinals lone strike to make it 4-2 would be the only tally.
 
Luke Baleshta would get the first of his senior campaign knocking in a rebound on the doorstep of the crease.
 
Middlebury would claw back in the third period to tie the game at 4-4.  Evan Neugold would convert a power play goal with a wrister from the high slot, beating Finney glove high for Middlebury's third goal of the game.
 
Vincent Gisonti struck the equalizer for the Panthers on a scrum in front of the net, knocking it past a sprawled out Finney.
 
The Cardinals Matt Quilty corralled a drop pass from Cam Owens in the left circle sending a shot low far post past Klein for the game-winner.
 
After coming on in relief, Finney finished with 20 saves on 22 shots. Klein wrapped up with 30 saves as the Cardinals outshot the Panthers 35-28.
 
Plattsburgh State finished 0-2 on the man up advantage while Middlebury converted on its only power play opportunity.
 
The Cardinals remain unbeaten and move to 7-0-0. They will play the winner of Norwich and Connecticut College in the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m.