NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The No. 4 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team fell in overtime on Saturday evening, losing their first game of the season to the host No. 12 Norwich Cadets 2-1. The game was the opening contest of the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic, which will now have Norwich advancing to the championship game and Plattsburgh going to the consolation game.
The Plattsburgh State Cardinals are currently the No. 4 ranked team in the USCHO.com Division III Top-15 poll, while the Norwich Cadets are No. 12.
Ciara Wall (Somerville, Mass./New Hampshire) was the Cardinal's lone goal scorer, as she tallied her third goal of the season.
Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich) and
Adriana Urban (Monroe, N.J./Hoosac School) each tallied assists for the Cards.
Lilla Nease (Lake Forest, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) made 18 saves in net taking her first loss of the 2023-24 campaign.
Plattsburgh outshot the Cadets 26-20 and picked up zero penalties in over 60 minutes of action. However, the Cards were 0-3 on the power play, as Norwich killed off all three Plattsburgh advantages.
The Cardinals fall to 8-1-1 with their first loss of the season and will play tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 10 at 1 p.m. in the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic against the loser of No. 11 Elmira and No. 14 Nazareth. The Cadets move to 7-2-1 and will play the winner of Elmira and Nazareth at 4 p.m. on Dec. 10 in the championship game of the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic.
An evenly played first period saw a 0-0 tie after 20 minutes of action, with Plattsburgh State holding a slim 10-9 shot margin. The Cadets committed the sole penalty of the period but were able to kill off the two-minute interference penalty, holding the game scoreless midway through the first stanza.
In the second period, Plattsburgh was very strong defensively, holding Norwich to just three shots over 20 minutes. The Cards finally took the lead and broke the scoreless stalemate at the 16:47 mark with Wall's score. After Cadets' turnover, Urban led the Cardinals into their offensive zone, eventually passing to Masotta who was wide open in the slot after beating her defender down the ice. The pass was too far behind Masotta, who was able to get her stick on the puck just enough, keeping it right out in front of the goalie where Wall was all alone, as she finished with a beautiful backhand score blocker side.
The 1-0 lead held for Plattsburgh into the second intermission and through the first four minutes of the third period. However, Breanna Ricker scored at the 4:53 mark of the third period, tying the score at one goal apiece. A holding penalty at the 14:34 mark gave the Cardinals a golden opportunity to take the lead, but all four shots the team took on the penalty were saved, eventually sending the game to overtime.
Just over a minute into overtime, the Cadets were able to score as Neris Archambault buried the game-winning shot to send Norwich into the championship game. The Cadet's win was the first over the Cardinals in their last nine matchups, with their last win over Plattsburgh coming on Nov. 8, 2017.
Leocadia Clark made 25 saves to earn the win in net, while Archambault added an assist to her game-winning goal, and Oliva Boyer, Aimee Headland, and Marja Linzbichler each had assists.
