College Hockey Stats Box Score
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team was unable to complete a season sweep of defending NCAA Division III national champion and No. 11/12 Norwich University, as the Cardinals fell by a 4-3 final in non-conference action Tuesday evening at Kreitzberg Arena.
Norwich is ranked at No. 11 in the USCHO.com Division III Men's Top-15 Poll and No. 12 in the D3hockey.com Men's Top-15 Poll.
Plattsburgh State won the first meeting this year between the two teams, defeating the Cadets, 4-1, in the opening round of the PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut at Middlebury College back on Nov. 24.
The Cadets held a slight 25-21 edge in shots, while both teams found success on the power play. Norwich was 2-for-3 with the extra attacker, while Plattsburgh State was 1-for-3.
Plattsburgh State drops to 10-10-0 overall with the loss and looks to get back in the win column on Saturday, Feb. 3, as it hosts SUNY Potsdam at 7 p.m. Norwich rises to 15-5-1 overall with the win and visits the University of Southern Maine next on Friday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m.
Norwich opened scoring 5:37 into the first period on the power play. The Cardinals tried to clear the puck out of their defensive zone on the penalty kill, but senior defenseman Connor Evangelista intercepted the clearance and kept the puck onside in the high slot. He passed to freshman forward Félix Brassard at the top of the left face-off circle, and Brassard scored to make it an early 1-0 Cadet lead.
Just 39 seconds later, Plattsburgh State scored on the power play to tie the score at 1-1. Freshman forward
Liam Lawson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Powell River Paper Kings) sent a cross-ice pass to sophomore defenseman
Charles Barber (Queensbury, N.Y./New York Bobcats) in the neutral zone, and Barber fed senior forward
Matt Quilty (Midland, Ontario/Caledonia Corvairs) in the left face-off circle. Quilty scored glove side to net his seventh tally of the season.
Sophomore defenseman
Antoine Fournier-Gosselin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec/Cégep de Saint-Laurent) gave the Cardinals the lead 14:32 into the first period when he intercepted an attempted clearance pass along the blue line in Plattsburgh State's offensive zone and found the back of the net glove side off of a wrist shot.
Norwich knotted the tally at 2-all with 17:25 gone in the first. Senior defenseman Alec Brandrup took a shot from the right point that was saved, and freshman forward Scott Swanson jabbed at the rebound to try to put another shot on net. Sophomore forward Todd Jackson was there to punch the puck past the goal line and counter Plattsburgh State's two unanswered goals. Sophomore defenseman TJ Dockery also earned an assist on the play.
The Cadets took a 3-2 lead on the power play with 19:02 elapsed in the second period thanks to tic-tac-toe passing. Brandrup passed D-to-D to senior defenseman Connor Evangelista, who then sent the puck to sophomore forward Jordan Hall in the left face-off circle. Hall ripped a wrist shot that went top shelf blocker side to beat the goalie.
Midway through the third period, Plattsburgh State answered once again. Fournier-Gosselin sent a puck ahead that got tipped before eventually settling in sophomore forward
Antoine Desnoyers' (Quebec City, Quebec/Cégep de Saint-Laurent) possession along the left wing. Desnoyers centered a pass to freshman forward
Mike Falanga (East Haven, Conn./Islanders Hockey Club), who slipped the puck underneath the sprawling goalie's pads to tie the game at 3-all 10:23 into the third.
Jackson scored the eventual game-winner for Norwich 14:00 into the third period. Freshman goaltender
Lawson Fenton (Medina, N.Y./Coquitlam Express) made a pad save on a 2-on-1 rush, turning aside freshman forward Coby Downs' shot attempt. Swanson collected the puck in the right corner and eventually found Jackson, who scored from the middle of the right face-off circle and used a teammate's screen to go five-hole.
Fenton made 21 saves in the loss for the Cardinals, while sophomore goaltender Tom Aubrun turned aside 18 shots in the win for the Cadets.
