PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team dropped a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) home matchup against Cortland on Friday night, falling 3-1. Joshua Belgrave (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Cougars) tallied a short-handed goal in the first period, but that was all the Cardinals could muster offensively in the loss.

Belgrave tallied his second goal of the year and the third short-handed goal of his career with the first-period score, as Jake Lanyi (North Salem, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) added his team-leading sixth assist. Jacob Hearne (Ennismore, Ontario/Toronto Jr. Canadiens) took his first loss of the season in goal, making 24 saves in just over 57 minutes of action.

On the night, the Cardinals were outshot 27-22 while also going 0-3 on power plays, all of which came in the third period. The Red Dragons went 1-3 on the advantage, giving up a goal on their first power play opportunity of the night.

Plattsburgh State falls to 2-3 (1-2 SUNYAC) and next hosts Morrisville for the Casella Teddy Bear Toss on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. Cortland moves to 4-2 (2-1 SUNYAC), taking the first iteration of the 2024 SUNYAC Championship rematch, as they next play Potsdam on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.

The Cardinals started off the night with a great response on their first penalty kill, putting themselves up 1-0. Lanyi chased a loose puck down into the Plattsburgh offensive zone, taking on two Red Dragons on the boards. Belgrave skated into the offensive end as well, unguarded and finding himself all alone with the puck in the right faceoff circle, as Lanyi had won the battle along the boards. The junior forward then took a quick shot, finding the upper right corner of the goal for the short-handed score.

The Red Dragons found the equalizer later in the first period, as Nate Boak scored at the 12:27 mark to tie the game at a goal apiece. Just over two minutes later, Nathan Garnier gave Cortland the lead for good, with a shot from the point to give his team the lead.

After a period of play, the Red Dragons held an 11-8 advantage in shots on goal.

Cortland gave themselves a two-goal cushion after giving the Cardinals a handful of opportunities to tie the game throughout the second period, as they were able to get their second power play at the 13:06 mark of action. Garnier took advantage, scoring his second goal of the night on the doorstep with just over six minutes left in the period.

The 3-1 lead held the rest of the way for the Red Dragons, as they played strong defense, not allowing the Cardinals to tally many shots. Plattsburgh had three power plays in the third stanza, including two back-to-back that overlapped for 10 seconds, but the Cards could only muster four shots on the advantage opportunities. In the last stanza, Cortland held Plattsburgh to just six shots on goal, even with the Cardinals pulling their goalie for the last 2:43, earning the win.

Ronan Mobley played all 60 minutes in net, saving 21 shots and earning the win.