College Hockey Stats Box Score

OSWEGO, N.Y. – Despite several opportunities to tie the game, the third-seeded Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team fell, 3-2, to second-seeded and No. 5/5 nationally-ranked Oswego State in the semifinal round of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament on Saturday evening at the Marano Campus Center Arena.
 
Oswego is ranked at No. 5 in both the USCHO.com Men's Division III Top-15 Poll and the D3hockey.com Men's Top-15 Poll.
 
Plattsburgh State finished its season at 13-12-2 overall, and Saturday's contest marked the final collegiate game for seniors Jakob Engvall (Jönköping, Sweden/Ogden Mustangs), Pat Egan (Rochester, N.Y./Lone Star Brahmas), Cam Owens (Wilmington, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club), Cole Stallard (Atlanta, Ga./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs), Jesse Neher (Calgary, Alberta/Cowichen Valley Capitals) and Ross Sloan (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades) and juniors Antoine Fournier-Gosselin (Saint-Lazare, Quebec/Cégep de Saint-Laurent) and Antoine Desnoyers (Quebec City, Quebec/Cégep de Saint-Laurent). Oswego rises to 19-5-2 overall with the win and will visit top-seeded and No. 2/2 nationally-ranked SUNY Geneseo for the SUNYAC championship on Saturday, March 2, at 7 p.m.
 
Junior forward Jody Sullivan put the Lakers on the board at 7:21 of the first period, scoring shorthanded on a breakaway with just the goalie to beat.
 
Oswego swelled its advantage to 2-0 at 18:23 of the first period, as junior forward Josh Zizek scored from the left circle on the power play thanks to a feed from freshman forward Travis Broughman that came in traffic in the slot. Junior forward Michael Gillespie also earned an assist on the play.
 
Quick puck movement on the power play helped Plattsburgh State trim the deficit in half 2:55 into the second period. Freshman defenseman Matt Araujo (Brookhaven, N.Y./Boston Jr. Rangers) played the puck down to Stallard in the left circle, and Stallard ripped a centering pass to Egan. Egan one-timed a shot that was turned away with a pad save before Owens banged in the rebound low stick side.
 
Stallard nearly tied the game seconds after the opening face-off of the third, drawing the crossbar on a high-percentage scoring chance on a breakaway.
 
Oswego took advantage of a Cardinal shift change at 3:32 of the third period, as junior forwards Joseph Molinaro and Anthony Passero entered the Plattsburgh State zone on a 2-on-0 rush. Molinaro passed to Passero, who sent the puck right back to set up a Molinaro goal. Junior forward Derek Brown also earned an assist on the score.
 
Just 17 seconds later, Plattsburgh State responded. Gillespie took a shot that hit sophomore goaltender Jimmy Poreda's (Tonawanda, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) shoulder and ricocheted off the crossbar, and the rebound bounced forward toward Stallard. Stallard spearheaded the rush down the right wing and whipped a cross-ice pass to Egan, who scored from inside the left circle.
 
Plattsburgh State pulled Poreda with 1:26 left in regulation but was unable to net the equalizer, as Oswego won the rubber match between the two rivals.
 
Both teams put 25 shots on goal during the contest. The Cardinals finished 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Lakers were 1-for-3 with the extra skater.
 
Poreda made 22 saves in the loss for Plattsburgh State, while junior goaltender David Richer turned aside 23 shots in the win for Oswego.