PLATTSBURGH — The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team didn't need a late-game comeback against Potsdam this time around.

Defenseman Nick Rolls scored just 23 seconds into the game Saturday night and the Cardinals skated to an 8-1 win over the Bears in State University of New York Athletic Conference play at the Stafford Ice Arena.

The top-ranked Cardinals, winning their 20th game of the season on Senior Night, improved to 13-0-1 in the conference and 20-1-2 overall in their final home contest of the regular season.

After Rolls put Plattsburgh State in front to stay, Andrew Willock tallied at 9:41 and then Eric Satim at 10:06 to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead after one.

"The atmosphere in the rink was great and we were able to get the momentum right away with a nice goal," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery.

"We didn't get a lot of shots on goal, but we got quality ones and were opportunistic. The second and third goals in the first period were also nice ones."

Still, the Cardinals were outshot, 13-7, in the period because of some penalty trouble. Plattsburgh State had to kill off a two-man disadvantage for 1:15 late in the stanza. Once again, Plattsburgh State's best penalty killer was goaltender Bryan Hince.

"We spent a lot of time in the box in the first period and Hince was up to the task," Emery said.

Defenseman Mike Kavanagh then gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead just 11 seconds into the second and both Riley Hill and Dylan Clarke added power-play goals later on, at 12:40 and 14:47, respectively, to make it 6-0.

Mitch West tallied on a rebound in front to put the Bears (7-11-5, 4-6-4) on the board at 15:43. But, that was the only puck to get by Hince, who finished with 29 saves.

Potsdam ran into penalty trouble in the third and Vick Schlueter gave the Cardinals a 7-1 lead with the teams skating four-aside at 10:48 and then Kyle Taylor with the finishing touch, at 17:24, with Plattsburgh State skating on a five-on-three.

Trevor O'Neill had a rough night of it in net for Potsdam, which skated to a 4-all overtime tie at home earlier in the season against the Cardinals, as he made 19 saves on 27 shots.

There were 29 penalties whistled.

"It was frustrating for both coaches and players," Emery said. "There wasn't a lot of flow to the game and I would have liked to have seen more five-on-five hockey."

The Cardinals close out their regular season with SUNYAC games at Oswego on Friday and Cortland on Saturday.

"It's going to be a difficult trip on the road for us," Emery said. "We need to win one of two in order to clinch home ice throughout the SUNYAC Tournament."

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Plattsburgh State 8, Potsdam 1

Score by periods:

Potsdam 0 1 0 — 1

Plattsburgh State 3 3 2 — 8

First period- 1, PSU, Rolls (Satim, Taylor), :23. 2, PSU, Willock (Hill), 9:41. 3, PSU, Satim, 10:06. Penalties- Hosmer, Pots (charging), 3:06. Wilson, PSU (hooking), 3:57. Rhymer, Pots (interference), 4:50. Corry, PSU (interference), 5:20. Schlueter, PSU (interference), 14:19. Rolls, PSU (slashing), 16:07. Burke, PSU (cross-checking), 16:52.

Second period- 4, PSU, Kavanagh (Clarke), :11. 5, PSU, Hill ppg (Farrow, Wilson), 12:40. 6, PSU, Clarke ppg (Kavanagh, Satim), 14:47. 7, Pots, West (MacLellan, Delong), 15:43. Penalties- Rhymer, Pots (tripping), :38. Kavanagh, PSU (contact to the head), 2:40. Breslin, PSU (hooking), 7:38. Martinez, Pots (roughing), 11:53. Martinez, Pots (hooking), 14:17. Rhymer, Pots (unsportsmanlike conduct), 20:00. Rhymer, Pots (roughing), 20:00. Schlueter, PSU (roughing), 20:00. Rhymer, Pots (10-minute misconduct), 20:00. West, Pots (roughing), 20:00. Kudroch, PSU (roughing), 20:00.

Third period- 8, PSU, Schlueter (Hill, Corry), 10:48. 9, PSU, Taylor ppg (Satim, Kavanagh), 17:24. Penalties- Zatorski, Pots (hooking), 2:05. Treacy, Pots (slashing), 2:50. Carelli, Pots (hitting from behind), 8:52. Sliasis, PSU (interference), 9:32. Corry, PSU (tripping), 11:01. Willock, PSU (elbowing), 12:39. Smith, Pots (holding), 14:31. Choules, Pots (hitting from behind), 16:12. Nutkevich, Pots (slashing), 16:12. Choules, Pots (roughing), 19:01. Fosso, PSU (roughing), 19:01.

Shots on goal:

Potsdam 13 13 4 — 30

Plattsburgh 7 7 13 — 27

Goaltenders (shots-saves): O'Neill, Pots, 27-19. Hince, PSU, 30-29.

Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Potsdam, 0-8. Plattsburgh, 3-12.

Attendance: 1883.