College Hockey Stats Box Score
GENESEO, N.Y. – Sophomore goaltender
Jimmy Poreda (Tonawanda, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) made a season-high 39 saves, but the Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team was unable to overcome the high-powered offense of No. 2/2 SUNY Geneseo in a 2-0 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) loss to the Knights Friday evening at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena.
Geneseo 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.
The Cardinals' elite penalty kill stood on its head once again, as the unit killed off all six Geneseo power-play opportunities. With a 92.1 percent success rate this season on the penalty kill, Plattsburgh State now ranks third in NCAA Division III. The Cardinals were 0-for-4 with the extra skater, and the Knights finished with a 41-26 advantage in shots on goal.
Plattsburgh State falls to 7-9-2 overall (5-4-1 SUNYAC) with the loss and next visits The College at Brockport tomorrow at 4 p.m. Geneseo avenged its only setback so far this season with the victory, as the Cardinals prevailed, 3-2, when the two teams met on Nov. 9. The Knights (17-1-1, 9-1-1 SUNYAC) next host SUNY Potsdam tomorrow evening at 7 p.m.
After 33 scoreless minutes, Geneseo finally got onto the board, scoring at 13:00 of the second period just after a Cardinal penalty released. Senior goaltender Devin McDonald played the puck forward into the neutral zone, and junior forward Tyson Empey chipped it to junior forward Andrew Romano along the right boards. Romano centered a pass to junior forward Conlan Keenan in the slot, and Keenan one-timed a shot low stick side to put the Knights ahead.
Senior defenseman Duggie Lagrone added insurance for Geneseo at 18:31 of the second. Junior defenseman Will Campion used a stretch pass to spring Lagrone forward on a 2-on-1 break, and Campion scored high glove side from the left face-off circle.
Plattsburgh State pulled Poreda with 2:05 left in regulation, and Geneseo took a penalty shortly thereafter to give the Cardinals a 6-on-4 advantage. Freshman defensemen
Ian Wallgren (Stockholm, Sweden/Connecticut Oilers) and
Matt Araujo (Brookhaven, N.Y./Boston Jr. Rangers) each took shots from the neutral zone in the final moments of regulation, but McDonald came up with a pair of stops to preserve the victory.
McDonald made 26 saves in the shutout win for the Knights.
