Cards have Oswego's number

By JOHN CORYER
Staff Writer

March 02, 2008 04:00 am

— 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.
But, Joey Wilson netted the game-winner shortly after on a shot from beyond the slot area at 15:23 for the Cardinals' second power-play goal of the game.
Plattsburgh State killed off a two-man disadvantage for 2:40 early in the third before Shawn Dennis came from behind the net to slip a shot from in close over Scott's left shoulder to make it 4-2 with 10:10 gone.
McLaughlin added his second goal of the game, on the powerplay, with a tip-in to pull the Lakers back to within a goal at 14:54.
Scott was pulled for an extra attacker in the late going and the Cardinals were able to hold on.
"We would have liked to have played more 5-on-5 hockey because we were able to force them into some penalties in the first period," Emery said. "We wanted to get the puck in deep and use our cycle."
The Cardinals went 2-for-8 on the powerplay, while the Lakers (18-6-2 overall) were 1-of-9.
Hince, who was chosen as the tournament's Most Valuable Player, stopped 23 of 26 shots, while Scott made 41 saves on 45 shots.
"This win was more satisfying because it gave us the SUNYAC championship," the freshman goaltender said. "I give credit to everyone on our bench. Despite what the shots on goal say, our guys blocked a lot of shots.
"It was an amazing atmosphere. I'm a freshman to this and it hasn't sunk in yet. I know what I have to do when I'm in net and it's gratifying to win Most Valuable Player honors in the SUNYAC Tournament. But, this was a total team effort from all our players."
It marked the first SUNYAC Tournament championship for the Cardinals since 2004.
The all-tournament team included three Plattsburgh State players -- forward Wilson, defenseman Rolls and goalie Hince.
The Lakers also had three players chosen -- forwards McLaughlin and Tony DiNunzio, along with defenseman Francois Gagnon.
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Plattsburgh State 4, Oswego State 3
Score by periods:
Oswego State 1 1 1 -- 3
Plattsburgh State 0 3 1 -- 4
First period- 1, Osw, Levy (Zalewski), :10. Penalties- Novak, Osw (tripping), 2:37. Lyon, Osw (hooking), 10:32. Novak, Osw (interference), 12:31.
Second period- 2, PSU, Clarke (Willock), 2:33. 3, PSU, Corry ppg (Wilson, Rolls), 6:45. 4, Osw, McLaughlin (DiNunzio, Magagna), 14:17. 5, PSU, Wilson ppg (Corry, Rolls), 15:23. Penalties- Lozzi, Osw (tripping), 6:10. Rolls, PSU (hooking), 7:11. Whitehead, Osw (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:09. Baccaro, PSU (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:09. Magagna, Osw (holding), 12:11. McLaughlin, Osw (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:11. Lozzi, Osw (slashing), 15:15. Willock, PSU (holding), 16:36. Magagna, Osw (elbowing major), 17:24. Hince, PSU (interference), 18:20. Willock, PSU (tripping), 19:41.
Third period- 6, PSU, Dennis (Baccaro), 10:10. 7, Osw, McLaughlin ppg (Laganiere, Ellis), 14:54. Penalties- Willock, PSU (slashing), 3:00. Rolls, PSU (interference), 4:17. Rolls, PSU (hooking), 10:51. Greene, PSU (hooking), 13:57. Osw (too many men), 16:49. Farrow, PSU (hooking), 17:07.
Shots on goal:
Oswego State 4 14 8 -- 26
Plattsburgh State 11 18 16 -- 45
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Scott, Osw, 45-41. Hince, PSU, 26.23.
Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Oswego State, 1-9. Plattsburgh State, 2-8.
Attendance: 3,189.

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