PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey scored five unanswered goals to overcome a 1-0 deficit and defeat Morrisville State, 5-1, in its State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) regular-season finale.
With the victory, Plattsburgh State (9-13-3, 6-8-2 SUNYAC) earned the No. 5 seed in the SUNYAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament and will play at No. 4 seed The College at Brockport on Wednesday at a time yet to be determined. With the loss, Morrisville State (9-16-0, 5-11-0 SUNYAC) was eliminated from contention for the SUNYAC Tournament.
Morrisville State scored the only goal of the first period to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. At the 5:34 mark, Christian Vella scored on a quick wrist shot from the slot that went into the upper-right corner of the net. Charlie Bedard and Ryan Bochert assisted.
However, Plattsburgh State would score two goals in the second period and three more in the third period to complete the 5-1 come-from-behind victory.
Freshman forward Mitchell Hale (Oakfield, N.Y./ Johnstown Tomahawks) tied the game at 1-1 on a one-timer taken from just to the left of the right face-off dot. Hale's second goal of the season, which was scored at 5:24 of the second period, was assisted by freshman forward Adam Tretowicz (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres).
Eleven minutes and 20 seconds later, junior forward Liam Lawson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Powell River Paper Kings) gave Plattsburgh State a 2-1 lead with his sixth goal of the season. Lawson one-timed a shot from the left of the right face-off dot that found its way into the upper part of the net at 16:44 of the second period. Sophomore forward Christian DiFelice (Thorold, Ontario/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) and senior defenseman Andrew Pizzo (Thorold, Ontario/Niagara University) assisted on the goal.
Thirty-three seconds into the third period, Plattsburgh State extended its lead to 3-1. Graduate student defenseman and captain Philip Middleton (Vail, Colo./Salmon Arm Silverbacks) wristed a shot from the high slot that deflected over to freshman forward Joe Kile (Troy, Mich./Johnstown Tomahawks) at the right side of the crease and Kile finished for his fourth goal of the season. Middleton garnered the lone assist.
Pizzo then scored his second goal of the season — assisted by Hale and senior forward and alternate captain Joe Drabin (Rochester, N.Y./Wenatchee Wild) — on a slap shot from the left point at 11:02 of the third period.
Freshman defenseman Christian Dahl (St. Peters, Mo./Topeka Pilots) scored the Cardinals' final goal to make the score 5-2 at 16:35 of the third period. Dahl took a wrist shot from the left point that deflected in off a Morrisville State defenseman's stick. Dahl's third goal of the season, was assisted by Kile and freshman forward Brendan Young (Lefroy, Ontario/Blind River Beavers).
Plattsburgh State's junior goaltender Jimmy Poreda (Tonawanda, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) made 20 saves to improve to 9-9-3 on the season. Owen Liskiewicz (1-5-0) stopped 40 shots in net for Morrisville State.
The Cardinals held a 45-21 advantage in shots on goal.
Neither team converted on the power play. Plattsburgh State was 0-of-2 and Morrisville State was 0-of-3.
Following the game, Plattsburgh State recognized its 2019-20 senior class: Middleton, Pizzo, Drabin and forward Ryan Kuhn (Wheatfield, N.Y./Niagara University).
