Fredonia ices Plattsburgh

By JOHN CORYER
Staff Writer

February 03, 2008 04:00 am

— PLATTSBURGH -- The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team, despite an eight-game winning streak, hasn't been on top of its game recently.
The Cardinals weren't at their best again Saturday night -- and this time paid the price.
Bryan Goudy put Fredonia ahead to stay 1:32 into the contest and the Blue Devils frustrated the Cardinals in a 3-1 victory in State University of New York Athletic Conference play at the Stafford Ice Arena.
"We had it coming to us," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "We haven't been playing that well and we've won some games recently that we probably shouldn't have won.
"I told the guys that we had to be prepared to win a 1-0 game tonight. You can't give a team like Fredonia a 1-0 lead. That allows them to play their system -- and they play it well."
It was the first SUNYAC loss of the season for the Cardinals, who fell to 19-3 overall and 12-1 in the conference. It was also the final home regular season game for Plattsburgh State.
"If this doesn't wake us up, nothing will," said Emery. "We need to wake up."
Goudy put Fredonia (12-7-3, 8-3-2) ahead to stay early on when he sent a wrister from near the slot through the five hole of Cardinals' goaltender Bryan Hince.
"The first goal killed us," Emery said. "That allowed them to pack it in around the net.
"They did a great job frustrating us."
The Blue Devils made it 2-0 at 10:29 of the second when Matt McKeown, off a loose puck in front, chipped it past Hince.
Fredonia then sealed it when Neal Sheehan tallied down low off a two-on-one with Alex Morton at 10:10 of the third.
The Cardinals pulled Hince with 4:23 remaining and avoided the shutout at 18:38 on the powerplay when the puck bounced off the boards and in front of the net to Joey Wilson, who beat Fredonia netminder Pat Street for the only time.
Street played very well in net, stopping 30 of 31 shots. Hince finished with 17 saves on 20 shots.
"I thought the work ethic was there for us, but we have some talented players who aren't focusing enough," Emery said. "We have to bring it every night."
The setback put a damper on a night where the three Plattsburgh State seniors -- C.J. Tozzo, T.J. Cooper and Mike Baccaro -- were honored prior to playing their final home regular season game. Tozzo was also chosen as the Fan Favorite for the 2007-08 season.
The Cardinals close out the SUNYAC regular season with three road games -- Friday at Brockport, Saturday at Geneseo and Feb. 16 at Potsdam. Plattsburgh State will likely need to win two of three in order to clinch the regular season championship.
In other SUNYAC action Saturday night, Oswego moved closer to the Cardinals with a 9-2 thumping of Brockport, Buffalo State skated to a 5-1 victory at Potsdam, and Cortland was a 6-4 winner over Geneseo.
Fredonia State 3, Plattsburgh State 1
Score by periods:
Fredonia State 1 1 1 -- 3
Plattsburgh State 0 0 1 -- 1
First period- 1, Fred, Goudy (Boyce), 1:32. Penalties- Rolls, PSU (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:50. Hess, Fred (holding), 3:02. Aonso, Fred (hooking), 9:05. Albert, Fred (tripping), 11:41.
Second period- 2, Fred, McKeown (Sheehan, Haberman), 10:29. Penalties- Corry, PSU (elbowing), 7:36. Aonso, Fred (tripping), 18:01.
Third period- 3, Fred, Sheehan (Morton), 10:10. 4, PSU, Wilson ppg, 18:38. Penalties- McKeown, Fred (interference), 4:03. Sylvester, Fred (delay of game), 16:53.
Shots on goal:
Fredonia State 5 8 7 -- 20
Plattsburgh State 12 9 10 -- 31
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Street, Fred, 31-30. Hince, PSU, 20-17.
Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Fredonia, 0-2. Plattsburgh State, 1-6.
Attendance: 1,734.

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