MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The No. 6 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team fell in overtime on Tuesday night, as No. 2 Middlebury's Jordan Hower scored with less than two minutes to go for a 2-1 win. A defensive battle needed an extra period to decide a winner, as just 38 shots were put on net over 63-plus minutes of play. 

The Plattsburgh State Cardinals are currently the No. 6 team in the USCHO.com Division III Top-15 Poll, while the Middlebury Panthers are No. 2.

Ciara Wall (Somerville, Mass./New Hampshire) scored the lone goal of the game for Plattsburgh State, as Sydnee Francis (Canton, N.Y./Nepean Jr. Wildcats) and Seoyoung Yoo (Yongin, Republic of Korea/Ontario Hockey Academy) each had assists. Chloe Lewis (Monson, Mass./Northwood School) took the loss in net, making 18 saves in over 63 minutes of action.

Over the 63-plus minute game, the Panthers outshot the Cardinals 20-18, while Plattsburgh was 0-3 on the power play and Middlebury was 0-2.

The Cardinals fall to 13-4-1 with the loss and next host No. 10 Cortland for a weekend set, beginning on Friday, Jan. 31 at 3 p.m. The Panthers improve to 14-2-1 and have the weekend off before traveling to Suffolk University on Tuesday, Feb. 4 for non-conference action.

The Cardinals came out strong in the first period, as they put 13 shots on net, including five in their first power play just after the 8:20 mark of play. The excellent offensive play came to fruition late in the first period, where Wall notched her fourth goal of the season and third in her last four games with just over a minute to go in the first stanza.

The second and third periods were much different for the Cardinal offense as they only mustered three shots on goal amidst strong defensive play from the Panthers. Plattsburgh also played well defensively, killing the last of two penalties for their opponent early in the period. However, Middlebury finally got their goal at the 11:04 mark of the second stanza off the stick of Britt Nawrocki, tying the game at a goal apiece.

In the third period, the Cards were unable to get a shot on goal, despite two power play opportunities. The team held Middlebury to just seven shots, which Lewis stopped all of, allowing them to send the game into overtime.

At the end of the period, Plattsburgh did go on the power play with just over a minute to go, but could not get a shot on the net, sending the game into overtime.

With the power play bleeding over into the extra period, the Cardinals put two shots on goal, but the Middlebury netminder Sophia Merageas stopped both shots. On the Panther's first shot of the period at the 3:17 mark, Hower sunk the over time winner to give her team their third straight win over Plattsburgh State.

Merageas made 17 saves in over 63 minutes of action to earn the win.