NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The No. 7 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team defeated their cross-lake rival Norwich University on Monday evening 4-2, as the team won their 8^th East-West Hockey Classic title and fourth in the last five years. Chloe Lewis (Monson, Mass./Northwood School) was named Tournament MVP, earning herself two victories on the weekend and making 37 saves over two games.

The Plattsburgh State Cardinals are currently ranked at No. 7 in the latest USCHO.com Division III Top-15 rankings.

Lewis played excellent for Plattsburgh State, following up her shutout win last night with a strong 21-save performance on Monday that kept the Cardinals in front throughout the evening and earned her MVP honors.  Both Molly Riggi (Farmingdale, N.J./New Jersey Titans) and Mae Olshansky (Las Vegas, Nev./North American Hockey Academy) were also named to the All-Tournament team for Plattsburgh State, with Riggi tallying two goals and one assist over two games, and Olshansky picking up a goal and assist in the tournament. 

Riggi notched the game-winning goal for the second night in a row, also tallying an assist in Monday's win, while Olshansky joined her linemate with a goal and assist as well in the victory. Both Seoyoung Yoo (Yongin, Republic of Korea/Ontario Hockey Academy) and Sydnee Francis (Canton, N.Y./Nepean Jr. Wildcats) tallied the first goals of their career in the win, with Yoo opening up the scoring and Francis sealing the win with an empty netter late in the third period.

Plattsburgh State held the shot advantage after 60 minutes of hockey, with a 27-23 advantage. Neither team was able to capitalize on their power play opportunities, with Plattsburgh going 0-4 and Norwich 0-3.

The Cardinals improve to 8-2-1 on the season and will next host No. 6 Oswego State for a weekend set of games, beginning on Friday, Jan. 10 at 4 p.m. The two teams met earlier this season and tied 2-2, as the Lakers mounted a late comeback against the Cards. Norwich falls to 6-7-0 on the season and will host Vermont State University Castleton this weekend beginning on Friday, Jan. 10 at 6 p.m.

The first period was evenly played between both squads, as each team killed the other's first power play chance and each team put five shots on goal in the opening stanza.

After 10 more minutes of similar play, with Plattsburgh going scoreless on two power plays and the Cadets on one advantage opportunities, Yoo finally broke the stalemate with 7:34 left in the second period. The first-year defender broke up a Norwich attack up the ice in the neutral zone and sprung herself a breakaway opportunity down the left side of the ice. Unguarded into the Plattsburgh offensive zone, the lefty ripped a strong wrist shot past the Cadets' goalie on her glove side, notching her first career goal and giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

The 1-0 advantage increased for Plattsburgh less than two minutes later, as Olshansky tallied her third goal of the season at the 14:11 mark. A pass in from the point to Riggi from Taya Balfour (Moorestown, N.J./Philadelphia Jr. Flyers) deflected off the Cardinal forward and found its way through a couple of Norwich defenders as well, sliding right to Olshansky on the doorstep. The graduate student shoveled the puck in with a wide-open net in front of her, giving the Cardinals a comfortable 2-0 cushion.

A late Plattsburgh penalty did not matter, as the Cardinals killed all but 23 seconds of the Cadet advantage in the second period to enter the final intermission up 2-0.

After their final power play the night expired early in the third period, Norwich found some life with a Jenna Nikles breakaway goal to cut the Plattsburgh deficit to one with over 18 minutes reamaing.

The Cardinals responded with strong defensive play over the next several minutes before Riggi could put the Cards back up by two scores with her second goal of the tournament and third of the season. An excellent Balfour stretch pass up ahead to Riggi had Plattsburgh on a two-on-one across the blue line, as Riggi passed off to Bridget Orr (Excelsior, Minn./North American Hockey Academy) who had her one-timer saved. On the rebound, Riggi came from behind the net to put the loose puck in the net for her second goal of the tournament and her third of the season.

Heading into the final minutes, the Cadets pulled their goalie trailing by two goals, and went back down by one score with 1:20 to go in regulation, as Livia Brooks notched the goal. Plattsburgh did a great job over the next minute-plus, keeping the puck out of their defensive zone and putting on a fantastic forecheck, which eventually resulted in Francis' empty-netter to seal the Cardinal win.  Tessa Morris (Grand Island, N.Y./Rome Girl's Hockey) picked up an assist on the play.

Leocadia Clark made 23 saves in just under 59 minutes as she took the loss for Norwich allowing three goals.