MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team bounced back after two losses last weekend to dominate in Morrisville, picking up a 5-1 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win over the Mustangs, The Cardinals had five different players tally goals, while two individuals had multi-point outings.

Aaron Catron (Middletown, Del./Philadelphia Little Flyers) picked up his team-leading 10^th goal of the season to open the scoring in the first period. Ryan Bonfield (Kemptville, Ontario/Brockville Braves), Jake Sacratini (Montreal, Quebec/AIC), and Patrick Cole (Lancaster, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) all tallied second period goals, while Vlad Pshenichnikov (Moscow, Russia/Utica) had the team's lone third period score. Pshenichnikov and Sacratini each added assists for multi-point outings. Jacob Hearne (Ennismore, Ontario/Toronto Jr. Canadiens) picked up his 11^th win of the season with a 17-save effort.

The Cardinals dominated shots on the evening, outshooting the Mustangs 39-18 while also going 2-5 on the power play and holding Morrisville to 0-4 on advantage chances.
Plattsburgh State improves to 11-9-1 (5-5 SUNYAC) and next travels to No. 14 Cortland for a SUNAYC Championship rematch on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. Morrisville falls to 3-18 (0-10 SUNYAC) and hosts Potsdam on Saturday, Feb. 8 in their next matchup.

Catron gave Plattsburgh the early advantage at the 9:39 mark of the first period, as he took a pass from Brannon Butler (Toronto, Ontario/Boston Advantage) and Ryan Poorman (Phoenixville, Pa./Norwich) around the left face-off circle and into the slot, where he ripped a slapshot past the Morrisville netminder for the score.

The 1-0 lead held through the first period before the Cards got their second score of the game at the 12:22 mark with Bonfield's first goal of the 2024-25 campaign. Jake Lanyi (North Salem, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) led an odd man rush up the ice and had his initial shot saved before Shane Bondy (Sharon, Ontario/Markham Royals) corralled the loose puck. He then passed off to Bonfield who skated back around and into the slot, where he found himself unmarked and with a wide-open shooting lane as he buried a shot for the 2-0 Cardinal lead.

Plattsburgh State picked up another goal around five minutes later, as Sacratini scored on the power play with a top shelf shot from the top of the right face-off circle. Pshenichnikov picked up an assist on the play.

On the ensuing face off, Jagger Benson (Lynnfield, Mass./Cranbrook Bucks) intercepted a Mustang pass just over the goal line, immediately finding Cole in the slot wide-open for a one-time score. The goal came just 17 seconds after the last one, giving the Cards a 4-0 lead heading into the final period.

A late power play in the third period saw Pshenichnikov pick up just his second Cardinal goal as he had a long shot find its way into the back of the net, off assists from Sacratini and Jack Ring (Hingham, Mass./Northeast Generals) with 4:10 left in the game.

Morrisville avoided the shutout with a Victor Fortier goal with just under two minutes to go, as Ethan Henry and Jenson Dodge each had assists. Grant Linville made 34 saves in 60 minutes as he took the loss.