NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The No. 14 Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team won its seventh FirstLight Shootout title on Saturday evening at Kreitzberg Arena, defeating host and ninth-ranked Norwich University, 3-1, in the championship game.
 
Norwich is ranked at No. 9 in the DCU/USCHO.com Men's Division III Top-15 Poll, while Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 14.
 
The Cardinals also won the FirstLight Shootout title in 1999, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2017. This marks Plattsburgh State's second championship won inside Kreitzberg Arena.
 
First-year goaltender Eli Shiller (Toronto, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) was named the Tournament MVP, while first-year forward Ryan Bonfield (Kemptville, Ontario/Brockville Braves) was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Rookie. Junior defenseman Cory Doney (Northfield Falls, Vt./Vermont Lumberjacks), senior defenseman Jacob Modry (Albany, N.Y./Merrimack College) and sophomore forward Luk Jirousek (Whitehorse, Yukon/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 7-1-2 overall with the win and is now unbeaten in its last seven games. The Cardinals, who are off to their best start since 2015-16, visit SUNY Potsdam next on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m. Norwich falls to 6-2-0 overall with the loss and next visits Babson College on Friday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m.
 
Sophomore defenseman Jack Ring (Hingham, Mass./Northeast Generals) put the Cardinals on the board at 4:31 of the first period. Modry passed to Jirousek at the top of the right circle, and Jirousek took a shot that was turned aside by the goaltender. With the goalie screened by traffic out in front, Ring picked up the rebound at the bottom of the left circle and hammered it in stick side.
 
Senior forward Adam Tretowicz (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) doubled the Plattsburgh State advantage with 12:34 elapsed in the first. Modry passed ahead to junior forward Paul Bryer (Clarkston, Mich./Islanders Hockey Club) from the neutral zone, and Bryer centered a pass to Tretowicz in the high slot. Tretowicz then wristed a shot low glove side to make it a 2-0 game.
 
Ring netted his second goal of the game with 15:23 gone of the second. After Tretowicz won an offensive-zone face-off back to Modry on the right point, Modry passed off to Bonfield on his right. Bonfield then sent a cross-ice pass to Ring at the top of the left circle, and Ring scored high blocker side to add insurance to the Cardinals' cause.
 
Norwich cut into the lead just 1:07 into the third period. Junior defenseman Joe Nagle picked off a clearing attempt at the blue line and fired a shot that Shiller turned away. Sophomore forward Paul Schmid got a piece of the puck before sophomore forward Alex Lewis scored along the right post. Senior defenseman Keegan Mantaro was officially credited with the secondary assist to complement Schmid's primary assist.
 
The Cadets pulled their goalie with 1:30 remaining in regulation, and a Cardinal penalty with 1:08 left gave the home team a chance with a 6-on-4. Shiller stood tall in the waning moments of the game, making six saves in the final 48 seconds to cement his status as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
 
Norwich finished with a 32-28 edge in shots on goal, while neither team scored on the power play. Plattsburgh State was 0-for-4, while Norwich was 0-for-5.
 
Shiller made a career-high 31 saves to push his save percentage to .970 and his goals-against average to 0.75 on the season. Norwich's senior goaltender Drennan Atherton made 25 stops in the loss.