PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team took down Morrisville on the team's fifth-annual Casella Teddy Bear Toss Night, defeating the Mustangs 4-1 in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action. For the second straight season, Tio D'Addario (Montreal, Quebec/Navan Grads) made the teddy bears rain down the ice with the game's opening goal.

The fifth-annual Casella Teddy Bear Toss night saw Casella Waste Systems and the Plattsburgh State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation raise over $1,200 for the Christmas Bureau with over 800 teddy bears donated and thrown onto the ice after the first Cardinal goal.

D'Addario scored the first goal of the night, with Colin Callanan (Stony Point, N.Y./New York Apple Core) scoring the game-winning goal soon after. After a scoreless second period, Jake Sacratini (Montreal, Quebec/AIC) and Ryan Poorman (Phoenixville, Pa./Norwich) scored third-period goals, with Poorman's being the first of his career and shorthanded.

Jacob Hearne (Ennismore, Ontario/Toronto Jr. Canadiens) made 11 saves as he picked up his third win of the season. Hearne's night was made easy by a strong Cardinal defensive effort that limited the Mustangs to just 12 shots on goal, while Plattsburgh had 43. Each team picked up a power play goal, with Morrisville going 1-5 and the Cardinals 1-2.

The Cardinals improve to 3-3 (2-2 SUNYAC) with the win and next head to Middlebury, where they will take on Norwich in the opening game of the LayerEight Shootout on Friday, Nov. 29. Morrisville falls to 1-7 (0-4 SUNYAC) and next plays on Friday, Nov. 29 against Neumann.

Plattsburgh State didn't waste much time getting the teddy bears on the ice, as D'Addario scored the game's opening goal just over six minutes in. Joshua Belgrave (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Cougars) opened up the scoring opportunity, knocking away the puck from a Morrisville player right out in front of the slot, where D'Addario was there to collect a loose puck. With all the time in the world just outside the crease, the sophomore forward took his time positioning himself right in front of the Mustang's goalie, before putting a shot past the netminder stick side for his first score of the season.

Just over a minute later, Callanan netted his first goal of the season right off a Brody Spencer-Ha (Okotoks, Alberta/Drayton Valley Thunder) faceoff win to put Plattsburgh up 2-0. Skating with the puck from the face-off circle right to the goal, Callanan backhanded a shot over the Morrisville goalie for the score.

The two-goal lead held into the intermission, as Plattsburgh held a 15-3 advantage on shots, also killing two penalties in the period. The second period then went scoreless, as Morrisville had the only power play and went shotless, with Plattsburgh outshooting the opposition 12-3.

The final period saw plenty of action, with three special teams goals between the two teams over the final 20 minutes. Sacratini got the scoring started in the fourth minute, knocking in a perfect Kevin Weaver-Vitale (Toronto, Ontario/Markham Royals) from the doorstep to give the Cardinals a three-goal cushion. Jack Ring (Hingham, Mass./Northeast Generals) also added an assist on the third Cardinal goal.

Morrisville finally got on the board at the 9:03 mark, as they took advantage of their fourth power play of the game and a five-minute major with an Evan Fraccaro goal. However, less than 40 seconds later, the Cardinals responded, scoring shorthanded off Poorman's first career goal in his 30^th career game. Riley Sutherland (Burlington, Ontario/St. Michael's Buzzers) applied excellent pressure on the penalty kill, freeing up a puck along the boards behind the Morrisville goal. As he skated towards the slot, three Morrisville defenders converged on him, leaving Poorman wide-open skating to the goal, as he ripped a shot to put Plattsburgh back up by three goals, 4-1.

Plattsburgh State killed off the remainder of the penalty, taking more shots than the Mustangs in the five-minute period. The Cardinals had one more power play down the stretch, but were unable to score, leaving the final score at 4-1 for their second SUNYAC win of the year.

Grant Linville made 39 saves in goal for Morrisville as he took the loss in net.