CASTLETON, Vt. – The Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team opened its 2026-27 regular season on the road Friday night, earning a 4-1 victory over VTSU-Castleton. The Cardinals have now defeated the Spartans in six consecutive seasons.
Plattsburgh got off to a strong start, striking first at the 7:23 mark of the opening period. Graduate student Joshua Belgrave (Burlington, Ontario) found the back of the net off assists from first-year Charlie Burchfield (Brighton, Mich.) and junior Quinn Tavares (Mississauga, Ontario) to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 advantage.
The Cardinals continued to build their lead early in the second period, scoring twice in a span of 1:21. Senior captain Vladislav Pshenichnikov (Moscow, Russia) extended the lead to 2-0 just 2:05 into the period, with first-year Jules Delepoulle (Amiens, France) picking up the assist. Burchfield followed with a goal of his own at the 3:26 mark, assisted by Tavares and Belgrave, to put Plattsburgh ahead 3-0.
VTSU-Castleton got on the board early in the third period, cutting the deficit to 3-1 at the 55-second mark. The Cardinals maintained their two-goal advantage throughout the remainder of the period before Mike English (Hague, N.Y.) sealed the victory with an unassisted empty-net goal with just 11 seconds remaining, securing the 4-1 final.
With the win, the Cardinals start the season strong, improving to 1-0, and will be back in action tomorrow on the road as they take on Plymouth State.
