PLATTSBURGH -- The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team took the first step toward winning Saturday night's State University of New York Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal with Potsdam State in the locker room prior to the start of the game.

The Cardinals came out and scored three goals in the opening period and Bryan Hince recorded a shutout in net as Plattsburgh State skated to a 6-0 victory over the Bears at the Stafford Ice Arena.

"We won the game in the locker room before the game started," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "We got great leadership and came out flying in the first period.

"The guys rallied behind our fans (2,180). But, the big key for us was our leadership and emotion."

The Cardinals (22-4 overall) will host Oswego, a 4-1 winner over Fredonia, in Saturday's 7 p.m. SUNYAC Tournament title contest at the Stafford Ice Arena.

Dylan Clarke gave the Cardinals the lead for good when he tipped Ward Smith's shot past Potsdam State goaltender Rob Barnhardt for a power-play goal with 3:53 gone in the contest.

Shortly after, at the 5:11 mark, Clarke fed the puck in front to Andrew Willock, who put Plattsburgh State up by two goals.

Phil Farrow's unassisted power-play goal at 18:29 then gave the Cardinals a 3-0 advantage after one.

Plattsburgh State continued to build on its lead in the second period when Kyle VanDermale took a long pass from Joey Wilson and went in alone to beat Barnhardt on a breakaway at 8:01 and then Nick Rolls with a power-play goal at 13:42 to make it 5-0.

"We played a great first period and a good second period," Emery said.

The Cardinals then spent half the third period -- 10 minutes in all -- in the penalty box. Plattsburgh State had to kill off a two-man disadvantage for a full two minutes to begin the period.

Hince, who made 17 saves combined in the first two periods, was especially strong in the third with nine stops.

"It's tough to stay focused for 60 minutes when you have a 5-0 lead," Emery said. "If the game had been closer, we probably wouldn't have taken all those penalties. We lost our focus some.

"We didn't play 60 minutes of good hockey because we had some dumb penalties in the third.

"Hince wasn't tested that much in the first two periods. But, I give him credit in the third when he came up with some great saves for us."