PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Senior forward Annie Katonka tallied a hat trick to help No. 1 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey to a 5-1 win over SUNY Cortland in a Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) game on Saturday afternoon at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. Plattsburgh State extended its NCAA Division III women's ice hockey record home-winning streak to 41 games with the season-opening victory. 

Plattsburgh State (1-0-0, 1-0-0 NEWHL) next hosts No. 7 Norwich University for a non-conference game at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. Cortland (2-1-0) hosts Oswego State for a NEWHL game at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 12.

Plattsburgh State scored three goals within a four-minute stretch of the first period to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

Katonka, the Cardinals' active scoring leader with 67 career goals, tallied the first two goals of the game. On the power play at 13:50, Katonka redirected a shot from senior defenseman Erin McArdle (Macomb, Mich./Belle Tire) through the goaltender's five-hole to make the score 1-0. First-year defender Mattie Norton (Glen Carbon, Ill./St. Louis Lady Blues) tallied the secondary assist for her first collegiate point. 

Under two minutes later, Katonka tallied another power-play goal to make the score 2-0 at the 15:40 mark. Junior forward Ivy Boric (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) passed the puck from the left circle to Katonka, who redirected a shot from the slot for the goal. McArdle tallied the secondary assist.

Senior forward Nicole Unsworth (Milwaukee, Wis./East Coast Wizards) made the score 3-0 with a goal at 17:02. Unsworth took a pass from first-year forward Lily Stumm (Cranberry, Township, Pa./Pittsburgh Penguins Elite) in the slot and scored with a wrist shot into the upper-right corner of the net. 

The score remained 3-0 until the last five minutes of the second period when senior forward Sara Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones) scored at 15:43. Senior defenseman Sierra Benjamin (Palm Coast, Fla./Northwood School) forced a turnover in the neutral zone and played an outlet pass to Boric, who skated into the right circle and played a pass to Krauseneck right outside the top of the crease. Krauseneck redirected the puck into the net for the goal to make the score 4-0.

With eight seconds remaining in the second period, Katonka tallied her third goal of the game to complete the hat trick. Katonka won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Benjamin at the right point. After Benjamin took a shot that was redirected on goal by Katonka, Katonka chipped in the rebound for the goal to make the score 5-0 at 19:52.

Cortland made the score 5-1 when sophomore defenseman Kair Bourgeois scored with a wrist shot from the slot that the goaltender got a piece of but could not keep out of the net. Junior forward Dany Donegan tallied the assist on the goal that was scored at 8:38 of the third period. 

Senior goaltender Ashley Davis (Winterville, N.C./Northwood School) improved to 1-0-0 on the season. She made 23 saves for Plattsburgh State.

First-year goaltender Molly Goergen (1-1-0) made 34 saves and allowed five goals for Cortland, before being lifted at the end of the second period for sophomore Anna Hamind. Hamind made 10 saves in the third period.

The Cardinals held a 49-24 advantage in shots on goal.