PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey fought back from a three-goal deficit to tie SUNY Cortland at 4-4, but Cortland's Stefano Alonzi scored at 15:53 of the third period to hand Plattsburgh State a 5-4 defeat in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play on Saturday night at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.
Plattsburgh State (6-11-3, 3-6-2 SUNYAC) next plays a SUNYAC game at Fredonia on Friday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. Cortland hosts The College at Brockport on Friday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m.
Plattsburgh State outshot Cortland, 15-5, in the first period of play, but Cortland scored the only two goals to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Douglas Elgstam, who recorded a hat-trick on the night, scored the first two goals for Cortland. On a 2-on-1 opportunity, Elgstam skated towards the Plattsburgh State goal from the right side of the ice, faked a pass to his teammate, and scored on a wrist shot through the five-hole to make the score 1-0 at 3:18 of the first period. Sean Perichak and Giancarlo Romano tallied the assists.
Just over four minutes later, Elgstam finished off an odd-man rush to make the score 2-0. Alex Storjohann passed the puck across the crease to Elgstam near the left side of the Cardinal net and Elgstam quickly fired in a shot for the goal at the 7:42 mark. Storjohann tallied the lone assist on the play.
Cortland would extend its lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal scored by Shane Beaulieu on a slap shot from the right point at 12:44 of the second period. Luca Esposito and Trevor Veneklase recorded the assists.
Plattsburgh State, which outshot Cortland 18-8 in the second period, would score the final two goals of the period to cut the Cortland lead to 3-2 heading into the second intermission.
Freshman forward Brendan Young (Lefroy, Ontario/Blind River Beavers) scored the Cardinals' first goal, assisted by freshman forward Brendan Schulte (Fullerton, Calif./Northern Cyclones) and freshman defenseman Jake Sutton (Pompano Beach, Fla./Northern Cyclones), at 13:25 of the second period. An initial shot by Sutton from the slot was stopped, but the goaltender could not control the rebound. Schulte knocked the loose puck to Young in front of the net and he quickly released a shot for his fifth goal of the season.
Less than three minutes later, sophomore forward Cullen Kane (Buffalo, N.Y./Lake Forest College) scored his first goal in a Cardinal uniform on the power play at 16:02 of the second period. Senior forward and alternate captain Joe Drabin (Rochester, N.Y./Wenatchee Wild) skated the puck down the right sideboards and then passed to Kane in the slot. Kane released a wrist shot that beat the goaltender on the blocker-side to make the score 3-2. Drabin and sophomore defenseman Matt Araujo (Brookhaven, N.Y./Boston Jr. Rangers) assisted on the play.
In the third period, Elgstam completed his hat-trick to increase the Cortland lead to 4-2 at the 2:28 mark. Storjohann, below the goal line to the right of the Cardinal net, passed the puck to Elgstam at the bottom left of the right circle and he scored with a shot to the blocker-side. Storjohann and Perichak garnered the assists.
However, Kane would answer for Plattsburgh State with his second goal of the game, assisted by freshman forward Hunter Alden (Walla Walla, Wash./Northeast Generals) and Young, at 11:24 of the third period. Kane took a pass from Alden, who was in the right corner, and skated around a defender in the slot, before scoring with a low wrist shot inside the left post to make the score 4-3.
Twelve seconds later, senior defenseman Andrew Pizzo (Thorold, Ontario/Niagara University) scored his first goal of the season to tie the game at 4-4. Pizzo played a give-and-go pass with Schulte entering the Cortland defensive zone. Pizzo then raced to the net and finished with a wrist shot to the blocker-side at 11:36 of the third period. Schulte tallied the lone assist on the goal.
The Cardinals looked for the go-ahead goal, but it was not to be as Cortland's Alonzi scored the game-winning goal, assisted by Romano and Jacob Gaydos, at 15:53 of the third period. Alonzi fired a shot from the red line that deflected off the Plattsburgh State goaltender's glove and into the net to make the score 5-4 in favor of Cortland.
Plattsburgh State pulled its goalie for an extra skater for the final 1:46 of regulation, but the Cardinals were unable to tie the game.
Junior goaltender Jimmy Poreda (Tonawanda, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) played the first period, making three saves and allowing two goals. Sophomore Brandon Wells (Spirit River, Alberta/Melville Millionaires) (0-2-0) played the final two periods in goal for Plattsburgh State. Wells made 17 saves and allowed three goals. Nick Modica (8-5-1) made 47 saves in net for Cortland.
Plattsburgh State held a 51-25 edge in shots on goal.
Each team finished 1-of-4 on the power play.
