PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The No. 2 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team used a Mattie Norton (Glen Carbon, Ill./St. Louis Lady Blues) power-play goal to take down SUNY Potsdam 1-0 on Saturday afternoon for a Senior Day win. The Cards earned the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win with a strong defensive effort, as the team clinched at least a top-two seed and home playoff game on Feb. 24 with their 11^th straight victory.

The Plattsburgh State Cardinals are currently ranked No. 2 in the USCHO.com Division III Top-15 Poll.

Before the start of the game, the team honored their five graduating seniors, Ivy Boric (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks), Tatem Cheney (Ottawa, Ontario/Ottawa Lady 67s), Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich), Lilla Nease (Lake Forest, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks), and Kendall Wasik (Novi, Mich./HoneyBaked) with a ceremony on ice as the players were joined by their families.

Norton's goal was the difference in the game on Saturday, as Mae Olshansky (Wilmette, Ill./North American Hockey Academy) and Ciara Wall (Somerville, Mass./New Hampshire) tallied assists on the play. Norton now has five power-play goals on the season, tops on the team, with six total this year. Nease posted her seventh shutout of the year and earned her 16^th win as she made 17 saves in just under 60 minutes of action.

Both the Cards and Bears played several minutes on special teams, as the Cardinals went 1-6 on power play opportunities in just over 11 minutes while killing both of the Potsdam power plays. The Cardinals attempted 50 shots on the day, holding Potsdam to just 17 shots on goal, as the Bears goalie Magalie Parent played excellently making 49 saves for a career-high tally.

Plattsburgh improves to 20-2-1 (15-1-0 SUNYAC) and will next travel to SUNY Cortland beginning on Friday, Feb. 16, where the Cards will need one win in their two games against the Red Dragons to clinch the top seed in the conference tournament. Potsdam falls to 9-13-0 (5-11-0) and will host SUNY Morrisville beginning on Friday, Feb. 16, as both Morrisville, Potsdam, and Canton will be fighting for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Each period, the Cardinals had no trouble getting shots on net, but Parent played great in goal for the second straight game against Plattsburgh, as she stopped almost everything that came her way throughout the game action.

The second power play of the first period saw the Cards get on the board, as the team worked the puck around the Potsdam defense, searching for an opening. Wall made a pass just above the crease to Olshansky, and Olshansky set up Norton beautifully with a no-look pass, allowing Norton to send the slapshot home from just inside the left faceoff circle. The goal put the Cards up 1-0 with just under 40 seconds to go, a lead they would hold the rest of the way.

A sloppy start of the second period put the Cardinals on three separate power plays in the first seven minutes of action, briefly going five on three, but Parent stopped all nine shots that came her way in that span, keeping her Bears down a goal.

The third period was not much different than the rest, as the Potsdam netminder stood on her head through the stanza, and Plattsburgh made it extremely tough for the Bears to get any good looks at Nease in net. A late third-period power play allowed the Cardinals to eat up some precious time holding the puck in their zone, but a breakaway chance developed for Potsdam.  A good look on the net went off the should of Nease, as she made a critical save to keep her team in front down the stretch.

Over the final minutes, Plattsburgh State was able to maintain control of the puck, stopping any chance for Potsdam to even attempt a shot or pull their goalie, sealing the senior day win.