NORTHFIELD, VT - In their opening game of the holiday-weekend LayerEight Shootout, Plattsburgh State came up short to Middlebury, 5–2.

Coming off a dramatic come-from-behind overtime win the previous weekend, their first conference victory of the season, the Cardinals hoped to ride that momentum into tournament play. However, Middlebury struck early, taking a 1–0 lead less than four minutes into the game on a goal by Jake Stevens, assisted by Reece Brednich.

Plattsburgh answered late in the first period when junior Aaron Catron (Middletown, Del.), set up by first-year Alexandro Moliner (Delson, Quebec) and senior Spencer Bellina (Medina, Ohio), tied the game at 1–1 with five minutes remaining. Middlebury regained the lead midway through the second period on a power-play goal from Jackson Morehouse.

The third period belonged to the Panthers. Jack Silverman converted another power play early in the frame before Catron notched his second of the night with assists from junior Patrick Cole (Lancaster, N.Y.) and senior Lonan Bulger (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories), giving Plattsburgh life with just under 15 minutes remaining. However, the Cardinals were unable to pull any closer, and two late empty-net goals, both from Brednich, sealed the outcome for Middlebury.

Catron led the Cardinals offensively with two goals and three shots on target, and with his multi-goal effort, he now leads the team with five goals on the season. In net, Middlebury goaltender Andrew Heinze stopped 21 of 23 shots for the win, while Plattsburgh's Dominik Bovan (Bratislava, Slovakia) turned aside 32 of the 35 shots he faced.

With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 3–4 on the season and will await the loser of Norwich vs. Stevenson University for tomorrow's consolation game, scheduled for a 4 p.m. puck drop.