PLATTSBURGH -- The Plattsburgh State Cardinals have found a way to get it done all season.

Saturday night -- with the stakes even higher -- was no exception.

The Cardinals captured the State University of New York Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a 4-3 victory over rival Oswego in front of 3,189 at a packed Stafford Ice Arena.

It marked the third time Plattsburgh State (23-4) has defeated defending national champion Oswego this season. With the win, the Cardinals gain an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

"Nothing has come easy for us all year," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "We've had to win a lot of one-goal games.

"It wasn't a great hockey game tonight because there wasn't a lot of flow to it. I give Oswego credit -- they kept coming back at us. But, we did what we had to do to win and now we can sit back and relax a few days.

"The crowd was great -- our fans were like a seventh player for us."

Despite a 45-26 advantage in shots on goal, Plattsburgh State never had much breathing room.

"It was another close game with Oswego and we were able to pull it off," said Cardinals' defenseman Nick Rolls. "I feel we're a little better skating team than they are, but they do a good job clogging it up on a smaller ice surface.

"They are still the defending national champions until proven otherwise. We got up, 4-2, in the game and they kept coming at us. (Bryan) Hince was awesome in goal and our players made a lot of sacrifices to win the game.

"Our first goal going into the season was to win the SUNYAC regular season and the second the SUNYAC Tournament title and get into the NCAA Tournament."

It, however, didn't start out well for the Cardinals when Darrell Levy drilled a slapshot from straight on over Hince's shoulder and into the net just 10 seconds into the contest.

It stayed 1-0 until the second period when the Cardinals scored three times to take a 3-2 lead after two.

Dylan Clarke put Plattsburgh State on the board at 2:33 from in close and Ryan Corry then gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead on the powerplay with a shot from the point past Oswego netminder Ryan Scott.

The Lakers then killed off a full two minutes of a 5-on-3 disadvantage and caught the Cardinals in transition when the two players came out of the penalty box. Brendan McLaughlin scored to tie it at the 14:17 mark.