PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The No. 6 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team fell in an NCAA Division III First Round matchup with Elmira College on Saturday afternoon, losing to the Soaring Eagles 1-0 in the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.

Plattsburgh State is currently ranked at No. 6 in the USCHO.com Division III Top-15 Rankings while Elmira is receiving votes.

Saturday marked the final game for four Plattsburgh State graduating seniors in Mattie Norton (Glen Carbon, Ill./St. Louis Lady Blues), Mae Olshansky (Las Vegas, Nev./North American Hockey Academy), Bridget Orr (Excelsior, Minn./North American Hockey Academy), and Ciara Wall (Somerville, Mass./New Hampshire).

Plattsburgh dominated offensively on Saturday afternoon, save the final score and subsequently power play goals. The Cards outshot the Soaring Eagles 40-17 on the afternoon and won 44 of the 65 total face offs. Elmira scored on their only real power play chance as the Cardinals earned a statistical penalty kill for killing a two-second disadvantage, while Plattsburgh State was unable to convert on four two-minute chances and a two-second opportunity, going 0-5. They attempted 13 shots over the eight minutes of advantage play due to the penalty. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Sara Sevcikova made a career-high 40 saves, halting the offensive barrage.

Chloe Lewis (Monson, Mass./Northwood School) allowed just one goal and made 16 stops on Saturday, taking her seventh loss of the season. Olshansky led the offense with six shots on goal, while three players had five shot attempts. Molly Riggi (Farmingdale, N.J./New Jersey Titans) was fantastic in the faceoff circle for Plattsburgh, winning 17 of her 21 opportunities.

Plattsburgh State concludes their season at 20-7-1, while Elmira improves to 21-7-1 and next takes on Wisconsin-River Falls in a rematch of last year's national championship game. The NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal match is set for Saturday, March 22.

The Cardinals were relentless offensively from the get-go,  outshooting the Soaring Eagles 15-7 in the first period of play. Early in the action, an odd-man rush left Wall open in the slot where her shot went off the bottom of the top pipe and came out, setting the stage for how the Cards' day was going to be offensively. Plattsburgh had chance after chance, including a power play opportunity at 11:14, but could not score in the early action. Immediately after the Cardinals power play ended, a penalty on Plattsburgh put Elmira on the advantage and they needed just 30 seconds to score, as Erika Goleniak scored on a rebound to put her team up 1-0. McKenzie Schmidt and Gabby Dougherty picked up assists.

Despite the best efforts of Plattsburgh, the one goal was too much for them to overcome, despite advantages in shots of 14-5 and 11-5 in the final two periods. The team had several opportunities with a loose puck in the slot and crease but could not push a shot past Svecikova.

As time waned down in the third period, Plattsburgh frantically searched for the equalizer. The team finally got the puck in their attacking zone with less than a minute to go and a saved shot allowed the Cards to use their timeout. The team was able to get two shots on target, with Olshansky and Wall each having shots saved in the final seconds, as Elmira held one to win 1-0.