College Hockey Stats Box Score

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The No. 15 Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team fell to No. 2/2 Adrian College, 5-2, in the consolation game of the 21st-annual PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut at Norwich University's Kreitzberg Arena Saturday afternoon.
 
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 15 in the USCHO.com Men's Division III Top-15 Poll, while Adrian is ranked at No. 2 in both the USCHO.com Men's Division III Top-15 Poll and the D3hockey.com Men's Top-15 Poll.
 
Sophomore forward Rich McCartney (Hershey, Pa./Philadelphia Revolution) led the Cardinals with two goals, his fifth and sixth of the season, while senior forward Ryan Kuhn (Wheatfield, N.Y./Niagara University) distributed two assists. For his efforts, McCartney was selected to the PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut All-Tournament Team.
 
The Cardinals finished with a 30-26 edge in shots on goal and went 33-for-60 on face-offs, while both teams were scoreless on the power play. Plattsburgh State went 0-for-5 with the extra attacker, while Adrian went 0-for-2.
 
Plattsburgh State slips to 3-3-1 overall with the loss and returns to State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play on Friday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. when it hosts Buffalo State at 7 p.m. Adrian rises to 8-2-0 overall with the win and next visits the College of St. Scholastica on Friday, Nov. 30, at 8 p.m.
 
Adrian opened scoring 2:36 into the game, as junior forward Bryce Van Horn scored unassisted. He took control of the puck behind the Cardinal net and dragged it across the crease before wrapping the puck around the goaltender along the right post.
 
Just 2:21 later, the Bulldogs made it a 2-0 game. Junior forward Dino Balsamo started a 2-on-1 rush down the left wing and drew the attention of the goalie inside the left face-off circle. He then sent the puck over to senior forward Bryan Yim, who wristed a one-timer inside the right pipe from just outside the crease. Senior defenseman Braden Hellems also earned an assist on the play.
 
Plattsburgh State nearly got on the board with 6:13 gone in the first, as senior forward Cam Owens (Wilmington, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) led a quick rush into the Bulldog zone. He sent a pass back to McCartney, who took a shot that Adrian's senior goaltender Kevin Entmaa stopped with a diving save.
 
Entmaa made three more big saves in the final 15 seconds of the first period with the Cardinals on the power play. McCartney took a shot that Entmaa stopped, and seconds later, McCartney fired another shot that Entmaa deflected with his glove. Freshman defenseman Matt Araujo (Brookhaven, N.Y./Boston Jr. Rangers) corralled the rebound on the doorstep and tried to punch it in, but Entmaa once again dove on top of the puck to stop play.
 
Just 43 seconds into the second period right after the Bulldog penalty released, McCartney cut the deficit in half. The Cardinals won a neutral-zone face-off, and after feeds from junior forward Joe Drabin (Rochester, N.Y./Wenatchee Wild) and Kuhn, McCartney entered the zone from the high slot. He used nifty stickhandling to navigate through the Adrian defense and wristed a diving shot inside the right post.
 
Adrian took a 3-1 lead with 10:16 elapsed in the second. Junior forward Matt McNair drove down the left wing and fed sophomore defenseman Dean Hewines in the left face-off circle, and Hewines sent a drop pass back to McNair. McNair then scored top shelf glove side from the bottom of the left circle.
 
Plattsburgh State cut the deficit to one once again with 21 seconds gone in the third, as Kuhn passed to McCartney in the low slot from behind the goal line, and McCartney scored through the five-hole on a one-timer.
 
The Bulldogs added an important insurance goal at 13:33 of the third. Following a Cardinal odd-man rush into the Bulldog zone, Adrian countered with a 2-on-1 rush down the right wing. Yim got the puck to McNair, who fed Balsamo at the Plattsburgh State blue line. Balsamo then unleashed a wrist shot from inside the right face-off circle that went over the goalie's glove and into the back of the net.
 
Adrian's senior forward Trevor Boyd put the game on ice with 28.8 seconds left in regulation with an empty-net goal.
 
Freshman goaltender Brandon Wells (Spirit River, Alberta/Melville Millionaires) made 21 saves in his collegiate debut for the Cardinals, while Entmaa recorded 28 stops in the win for the Bulldogs.

Norwich captured its tournament-record-extending 10th PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut title, defeating Middlebury College, 5-1, in the championship game.