PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The No.3 Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team put together another impressive offensive on Friday night, this time against the No. 8 Geneseo Knights, winning 6-2 in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action. Both Bennett Stockdale (Ottawa, Ontario/Alabama Huntsville) and Joshua Belgrave (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Cougars) scored twice for Plattsburgh, while Kevin Weaver-Vitale (Toronto, Ontario/Markham Royals) tallied the game-winner.
 
The Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team is currently ranked third in the latest USCHO.com Division III Top-15 Poll. 
 
Along with Stockdale, Belgrave, and Weaver-Vitale, Tio D'Addario (Montreal, Quebec/Navan Grads) scored for the Cardinals in Friday night's action. Luk Jirousek (Whitehorse, Yukon/Alberni Valley Bulldogs), Adam Tretowicz (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres), Jake Lanyi (North Salem, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers), Ryan Hogg (Duncan, British Columbia/Islanders Hockey Club), Brannon Butler (Toronto, Ontario/Boston Advantage), and Lonan Bulger (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories/Hobart College) all tallied assists for Plattsburgh in the six-goal performance. Jacob Hearne (Ennismore, Ontario/Toronto Jr. Canadiens) earned the win in goal for Plattsburgh, stopping 30 shots for his third win of the season, moving to 3-0. 
 
Neither team was able to take advantage of the power play, with each team going scoreless on the advantage. Plattsburgh just edged Geneseo in the shot totals, 34-32, as the Cards proved to be a better team around the net in the SUNAYC contest. The Cards' offense has been off to a torrid start in the 2023-24 campaign as they have scored six goals three times and  at least five in every game. 
 
The Cardinals move to 4-0 (2-0 SUNYAC) and will next play host to Brockport on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. for another SUNYAC clash. The Knights sustain their first loss of the season, falling to 4-1 (1-1 SUNYAC) as they next play in Potsdam on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 5 p.m.
 
The Cards set the tone offensively on the night with an early score, less than a minute into play.  Jirousek controlled the puck that went wide and off the glass, but the long rebound fell to D'Addario, who wrapped around the goal for the score. The first-year now has three goals on the season, marking three scores in four games.
 
The Cardinals scored a dramatic goal nearly 12 minutes into the action, as a major and game misconduct was handed out to Plattsburgh, putting them a man-down for five minutes. On the ensuing faceoff, the Cardinals controlled the puck and skated out with a two-on-two chance. Skating with his defender on his side, Tretowicz sent an excellent pass to Belgrave who had put himself in front of his defender skating up the ice, allowing him to shovel the puck in past the goalie for the short-handed score. 
 
The final goal of the third period came from the stick of Weaver-Vitale, who intercepted a pass from Geneseo trying to play the puck down the ice over the final 15 seconds. The senior defenseman ripped a deep slapshot in front of the blue line and found the upper right corner of the net for the goal putting Plattsburgh up 3-0 over the Knights just 20 minutes into the game. 
 
The offensive onslaught continued for the Cards into the second period as Stockdale picked up his first goal of the game. Working the puck up the ice in transition, Hogg skated past the blue line into his team's offensive zone, working past the goalie line before dishing back to Lanyi. The puck ricocheted off Lanyi's skate and went right to Stockdale, who's one-time found the net for the score. 
 
The goal prompted a change at goaltender for the Knights, bringing the Geneseo offense back to life as they scored two goals within three minutes of the fourth Cardinal goal, scoring the goals within thirty seconds of each other. However, Stockdale added another goal to put the momentum back in the hands of the Cards three minutes later, with another one-timer from short range, as Plattsburgh entered the intermission up 5-2.
 
The third period saw a scoreless and physical battle throughout the period, before the Cards sealed the win with an empty-netter from Belgrave, making the final score 6-2.
 
Adam Harris took the loss in net for Geneseo, making 11 saves for his team, while Joel Favreau made 11 saves in 26+ minutes of action. Mitch Machlitt and Teddy Purcell scored the Knight's goals, while assists came from Alex Wilkins, Zach Rehbaum, Jared Thomas, and Carter Diceman.