PLATTSBURGH — Castleton State's defense gave the Plattsburgh State men's hockey team all it wanted Saturday night.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, however, Plattsburgh State goaltender Bryan Hince and his teammates kept the Spartans off the board.

Plattsburgh State scored two second-period goals and went on to record a 3-0 win in the Cardinal Classic championship game at the Stafford Ice Arena.

"Castleton played great defense," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "They played hard, paid the price and blocked a lot of shots.

"They wanted to hang around until the end and did so. But, we were able to find a way to win and were able to get two wins on the weekend."

It was a scoreless game until the 1:52 mark of the second period when Dan Sliasis scored a power-play goal from in close to put the Cardinals (11-0-2) ahead to stay. Dylan Clarke passed the puck from the side to an open Sliasis on the far side of the net.

The Cardinals improved their lead to 2-0 at 7:20 when Joey Wilson came from in back of the net and stuffed the puck into the far corner.

"We played smart hockey for the first two periods," said Emery. "We didn't score in the first period. But, I just want our team to play well and not get frustrated because the puck isn't going in the net."

The third period, however, wasn't a good one for the Cardinals and that's when Hince earned Most Valuable Player honors with 11 saves in the stanza.

"It was our worst period over the weekend," Emery said. "We got sloppy and had some mental lapses. We need to play more consistent hockey.

"I don't know if it was Castleton playing that well in the third or us playing that poorly. It was probably a combination of both. But, when Hince plays like that, he gives us a chance to win the game."

The Cardinals were able to keep the Spartans (5-5 overall) off the board and Riley Hill added an empty-net goal with 40 seconds left in the contest.

Hince stopped all 19 shots he faced as the Cardinals finished with a 25-19 shot advantage. Freshman Seth McNary, who had recorded shutouts in his first two games in net this season, stopped 22 of 24 shots for Castleton.

In addition to MVP Hince, the all-tournament team included Plattsburgh State's Wilson, Hill and Ward Smith, Castleton's Stuart Stefon and Williams' Ryan Scott.

The Cardinals remain home to oppose Norwich at 7 p.m. Tuesday night.

Third-place game
Williams 2, Wesleyan 0

Brett Haraguchi's power-play goal at 13:58 of the first period held up as Williams (5-3 overall) placed third. Matt Dreiheim added an empty-net goal with six seconds left in the third period.

Ryan Purdy made 19 saves in net for the Ephs to record the shutout. Williams held a 37-19 edge in shots, including a 14-5 edge in the third. Mike Palladino turned aside 35 of 36 shots for the Cardinals (1-7 overall).

Championship

Plattsburgh 3, Castleton 0

Score by periods:

Castleton 0 0 0 — 0

Plattsburgh 0 2 1 — 3

First period- no scoring. Penalties- Muriello, CS (interference), 1:11. Muriello, CS (hitting from behind), 5:42. Pacha, CS (hooking), 13:34. MacLeod, PSU (tripping), 18:38.

Second period- 1, PSU, Sliasis ppg (Satim, Clarke), 1:52. 2, PSU, Wilson (Farrow, Breslin), 7:20. Penalties- Romeo, CS (contact to the head), 1:10. Culbertson, CS (hitting from behind), 2:16. Smith, PSU (interference), 4:06. Bartlett, CS (hooking), 7:12. PSU (too many men), 7:12. Romeo, CS (holding), 12:30. Sliasis, PSU (contact to the head), 15:48.

Third period- 3, PSU, Hill eng, 19:20. Penalties- Anderson, CS (hooking), 3:03. Bartlett, CS (holding), 8:08. Corry, PSU (holding), 9:35. Gullett, CS (hooking), 12:30. CS (bench minor, game misconduct), 19:20.

Shots on goal:

Castleton 6 2 11 — 19

Plattsburgh 6 11 8 — 25

Goaltenders (shots-saves): McNary, CS, 24-22. Hince, PSU, 19-19.

Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Castleton, 0-3. Plattsburgh, 1-10.

Attendance: 1468.

Third-place game

Williams 2, Wesleyan 0

Score by periods:

Wesleyan 0 0 0 — 0

Williams 1 0 1 — 2

First period- 1, Will, Haraguchi ppg (Scott, Masucci), 13:58. Penalties- Bossort, Wes (hooking), 6:05. Wes (too many men, served by Bossort), 9:31. Burns, Wes (hooking), 11:42. Evans, Wes (interference), 13:36.

Second period- none. Penalties- Campbell-Decock, Wes (interference), 2:19. Volosin, Will (hitting from behind), 9:30. Maier, Will (boarding), 18:42.

Third period- 2, Will, Dreiheim eng, 19:54. Penalties- Sullivan, Wes (slashing), 7:11. Scott, Will (roughing), 8:55.

Shots on goal:

Wesleyan 6 8 5 — 19

Williams 12 11 14 — 37

Goaltenders (shots-saves): Palladino, Wes, 36-35. Purdy, Will, 19-19.

Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Wesleyan, 0-3. Williams, 1-6.