College Hockey Stats Box Score

POTSDAM, N.Y. – The No. 2/2 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team posted its fourth consecutive shutout to start the 2018-19 season, as the Cardinals cruised to a 5-0 Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) win over SUNY Potsdam on Friday evening at the Maxcy Ice Arena.
 
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 2 in both the USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-10 Poll and the D3hockey.com Women's Top-10 Poll.
 
The Cardinals finished with a 36-27 edge in shots on goal in addition to going 1-for-4 on the power play. The Bears were scoreless in seven chances with the extra skater.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 4-0-0 overall (3-0-0 NEWHL) with the win, while Potsdam drops to 3-3-1 overall (2-2-1 NEWHL) with the loss. The two teams will wrap up the weekend series tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena in Plattsburgh, N.Y.
 
Sophomore forward Annie Katonka (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Pens Elite) put the Cardinals on the board 9:34 into the first period, tipping a shot that junior defenseman Hannah Kiraly (Glendale, Ariz./Northern Cyclones) took from the point past the Bear goaltender. Sophomore defenseman Emma Killeen (Watertown, Conn./The Gunnery) also earned an assist on the play.
 
With 16:30 gone in the first, sophomore forward Kaitlin Drew-Mead (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Buffalo Bisons) made it a 2-0 game. Senior forward Mackenzie Millen (Anchorage, Alaska/North American Hockey Academy) took control of a loose puck along the end boards and skated behind the back of the goal from left to right before wrapping the puck around the right post. Potsdam's junior goaltender Alexa Pfeiffer made a pad save, but Drew-Mead poked in the rebound.
 
Freshman forward Sara Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones) scored her first collegiate goal with 7:59 elapsed in the second period. Killeen sent a stretch pass forward to Kiraly, and Kiraly centered a pass into the slot to Krauseneck from the right face-off circle. Krauseneck then one-timed a shot past the Bear goalie blocker side to give the Cardinals a 3-0 advantage.
 
Plattsburgh State took a 4-0 lead with 12:11 gone in the third, as sophomore forward Abby Brush (Mount Prospect, Ill./Chicago Young Americans) backhanded a shot five-hole right outside the crease thanks to a feed from Katonka that came from behind the goal line.
 
Finally, 1:24 later, the Cardinals scored on the power play to round out scoring in the contest. Millen passed D-to-D to freshman defenseman Sierra Benjamin (Palm Coast, Fla./Northwood School), and Benjamin found freshman defenseman Hanna Rose (Chaumont, N.Y./Northwood School) undefended in the high slot just inside the blue line. Rose ripped a slap shot past the traffic in the slot that wound up sailing over the goalie's shoulder blocker side and into the back of the net.
 
Senior goaltender Kassi Abbott (Medford, Mass./Boston Shamrocks Elite), who is tied for the NCAA Division III lead in save percentage (1.000), goals-against average (0.00), winning percentage (1.000) and shutouts (4), made 27 saves in the shutout victory. With the shutout, Abbott now has 13 for her career, which moves her into a tie for sixth in the program's career record book with Bree Doyle (2004-07). Potsdam's Pfeiffer turned aside 31 shots in the loss.