College Hockey Stats Box Score
 
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – In what has become a tightly-contested interregional rivalry the past few years, Saturday's Panther/Cardinal Classic opener between the No. 2/2 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team and No. 5/6 Adrian College lived up to the hype once again, though this time, the Cardinals fell to the Bulldogs, 1-0, at Middlebury College's Chip Kenyon '85 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, while Adrian is ranked at No. 5 in the USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-10 Poll and No. 6 in the D3hockey.com Women's Top-10 Poll.
 
The contest marked a rematch of the 2017 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament national championship game, which Plattsburgh State won, 4-3, in overtime. The Cardinals also topped the Bulldogs, 1-0, in last year's UNO Classic opener.
 
Adrian's goal was the first Plattsburgh State had conceded all year though five full games, as the Cardinals went 5-0-0 with five shutouts heading into Saturday's contest. The shutout streak in total spanned 307 minutes. In addition, it marked the first time the Cardinals have been shut out by an NCAA team since Feb. 7, 2014. The Cardinals had scored at least one goal in 136 consecutive non-exhibition contests prior to Saturday's game.

Senior goaltender Kassi Abbott (Medford, Mass./Boston Shamrocks Elite), who had a 20-save effort in the setback, still boasts stellar numbers for the season in both goals-against average (0.17) and save percentage (.992), both of which rank second in NCAA Division III. Abbott's counterpart, sophomore goaltender Kate Turner, backstopped Adrian to the win with a 25-save shutout.
 
Plattsburgh State slips to 5-1-0 overall with the loss and will square off with No. 1/1 Elmira College in the Panther/Cardinal Classic consolation game tomorrow at 2 p.m. Adrian rises to 7-1-0 overall with the win and faces No. 4/4 Middlebury in the championship game tomorrow at 5 p.m.
 
The Bulldogs scored the lone goal of the game 7:13 into the first period. Junior forward Taylor Henthorne entered the zone and evaded three defenders in the right circle before taking a wrist shot that was saved by Abbott. Sophomore forward Neysa Miller, who was unguarded along the far post, knocked in the rebound from just outside the crease.
 
After being outshot, 9-6, in the first period, the Cardinals applied significant offensive pressure the rest of the game, holding a 19-12 edge in shots on goal in the second and third periods. Plattsburgh State was unable to produce the equalizer, however, even with the extra attacker as a result of pulling its goaltender in the final minute of play.
 
Both penalty-killing units came up big, with Plattsburgh State going 0-for-5 on the power play and Adrian going 0-for-4 with the extra skater.
 
Sophomore forward Abby Brush (Mount Prospect, Ill./Chicago Young Americans) and sophomore defenseman Erin McArdle (Macomb, Mich./Belle Tire) led the Cardinal offense with five and four shots on goal, respectively.

In the first game of the Panther/Cardinal Classic, Elmira and Middlebury battled to a 1-1 overtime tie, and Middlebury won the shootout, 1-0, to advance to the championship.