NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The No. 4 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey won the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic consolation game on Sunday afternoon, taking down the No. 14 Nazareth Golden Flyers 1-0 in overtime.
Zsofia Pazmandi (Kaposvar, Hungary/Ontario Hockey Academy) scored the game-winner in overtime and was also named to the All-Tournament team for the tournament.
The Plattsburgh State Cardinals are currently ranked No. 4 in the Division III Top-15 Poll, while Nazareth is No. 14.
Pazmandi notched the game-winner off assists from
Kendall Wasik (Novi, Michigan/Honeybaked) and
Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich) just over three minutes into the extra period.
Lilla Nease (Lake Forest, Calif/Anaheim Lady Ducks) notched her fourth shutout of the year in the win, stopping all 25 shots that came her way.
Both teams went scoreless on power play opportunities, as Plattsburgh was 0-4 and Nazareth was 0-2, and the Cardinals won the shot battle 31-25.
Plattsburgh moves to 9-1-1 and will now head to their winter break and will return to play next year with a trip to Oswego State, beginning on Friday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. The Golden Flyers fall to 5-4-1 and will next play in an exhibition against Cortland on Jan. 1 before returning to regular season play on Jan. 5 against Wilkes.
The first period was a relatively quiet period of action to get play started, with neither team earning power play opportunities nor getting very many chances on net, as Nazareth outshot the Cardinals 9-5 in the first 20 minutes.
The second period saw three total plays and an increase in shots for both teams, as Plattsburgh outshot the Golden Flyers 11-10. Nazareth killed off two big chances for the Cardinals early in the second period and just after the 14-minute mark, as they were able to stall the Plattsburgh power play on two separate occasions to hold the game scoreless. The Cardinals killed off a power play chance for the Golden Flyers shortly after their second chance expired, as the game held scoreless heading into the third period.
In the third stanza, the period played out similarly to the second, as Nazareth had one power play opportunity denied and Plattsburgh had two killed off, including one in the waning minutes of regulation, sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, the Cardinals were able to keep their foot on the gas with their offensive pressure, outshooting the Golden Flyers 5-0 in the extra period. The Cards finally got the game-winner at the 3:15 mark, as Wasik was pinned up against the back boards fighting for a loose puck. The puck eventually came free and Wasik kicked it out to Pazmandi who was left undefended in the faceoff circle to the left of the goalie, allowing her to rip a slapshot that got past the Nazreth goaltender for the game-winner.
Malka Paquin took the loss in net for Nazareth, making 30 saves in over 63 minutes of play.
