MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The No. 7 Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team wrapped up the regular season with a 5-3 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win over SUNY Morrisville on Wednesday evening at the Morrisville IcePlex.
 
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 7 in the DCU/USCHO.com Men's Division III Top-15 Poll.
 
Junior forward Carson Gallagher (Courtice, Ontario/Sacred Heart University), who scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal against Morrisville when the two teams last met on Dec. 10, finished with three points on two goals and an assist. Senior defenseman Jacob Modry (Albany, N.Y./Merrimack College) also had three points, scoring a goal and adding two assists.
 
The Cardinals doubled up the Mustangs in shots on goal, 50-25, and went 1-for-4 on the power play. Morrisville was scoreless on three power-play opportunities.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 18-5-2 overall (12-3-1 SUNYAC) with the win and will host a team to be determined in the semifinal round of the SUNYAC Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. Morrisville falls to 7-17-0 overall (3-12-0 SUNYAC) with the loss and finishes its season on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. on the road against SUNY Potsdam.
 
The Cardinals got on the board 10:23 into the first period, as Gallagher scored on the power play. Graduate student defenseman Matt Araujo (Brookhaven, N.Y./Boston Jr. Rangers) passed D-to-D to junior defenseman Kevin Weaver-Vitale (Toronto, Ontario/Markham Royals), and Weaver-Vitale fed Gallagher in the left circle. Gallagher took a shot that was saved, and after sophomore forward Luk Jirousek (Whitehorse, Yukon/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) got a piece of the puck, Gallagher banged in the rebound from the slot.
 
Senior forward Brendan Young (Lefroy, Ontario/Blind River Beavers) put the Cardinals up, 2-0, at the 15:20 mark of the first. Modry dumped the puck in from the red line, and Young picked it up in the left corner. Young skated to the blue line and played the puck back down, with senior forward Mitchell Hale (Oakfield, N.Y./Johnstown Tomahawks) gaining control along the back wall. Hale passed to Young in the slot, and Young clapped a one-time shot through the five-hole.
 
Morrisville cut the deficit in half 1:22 later, as junior forward Jestin Somero drew a penalty before passing to sophomore forward Chris Mott in the slot. Mott wound up scoring on a one-time shot blocker side.
 
Gallagher scored his second of the game 2:05 into the second period. Junior forward Bennett Stockdale (Ottawa, Ontario/University of Alabama in Huntsville) dumped the puck down to the back wall, and junior forward Thomas Maia (Mississauga, Ontario/Nanaimo Clippers) backhanded the puck out in front. Gallagher took a shot that was saved before punching in the rebound from the slot.
 
Senior forward Adam Tretowicz (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) entered the scoring column at 11:34 of the second. Maia passed over to Tretowicz to help him gain the zone, and Tretowicz fed Modry with a pass in the left circle. Modry passed back to Tretowicz in the slot, and Tretowicz capitalized on a one-time shot that he took with his left knee on the ice.
 
Modry added insurance at the 17:43 mark of the second to make it a 5-1 game. Gallagher sent a short pass to first-year forward Colin Callanan (Stony Point, N.Y./New York Apple Core) along the back wall, and Callanan wrapped the puck along the boards to Modry on the right point. Modry then wristed a shot that navigated through traffic and into the back of the goal.
 
Morrisville trimmed the deficit to 5-2 at 4:01 of the third. Mott passed to sophomore defenseman James Farmer-Valente on the left point, and Farmer-Valente passed D-to-D to sophomore defenseman Michael Keating. Keating took a shot from the right point that beat the goalie over the blocker-side shoulder.
 
The Mustangs pulled within two with 2:38 left in the third period. Sophomore forward Cameron Clark passed to sophomore forward Curtis Abbott in the neutral zone, and Abbott eluded three defenders before scoring high glove side from the left circle.
 
Morrisville pulled its goalie in favor of the extra attacker for the final 2:15 of regulation, and despite sustaining offensive pressure, the Mustangs were unable to net the equalizer.
 
First-year goaltender Eli Shiller (Toronto, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) made 22 saves in the win for the Cardinals, while sophomore goaltender Garrett Boyonoski turned aside 44 shots in the loss for the Mustangs.