By JOHN CORYER
Staff Writer
March 15, 2008 04:00 am
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PLATTSBURGH -- Hobart College has had its way with State University of New York Athletic Conference hockey teams this season.
Plattsburgh State is hoping to end that trend.
The Statesmen (18-7-2) and Cardinals (23-4-0) tangle in the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals at 7 p.m. tonight at the Stafford Ice Arena.
The winner of tonight's game advances to the Division III Final Four, which will be held in Lake Placid next weekend.
Hobart has compiled a 6-0 mark against SUNYAC teams this season, including a 5-2 win at Oswego.
"Hobart is well coached -- they have one of the best coaches in Division III (Mark Taylor)," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "They work hard and pay attention to detail.
"They win a lot of battles and have beaten every SUNYAC team they've played this year. They are a real-good skating team.
"Their conference is pretty strong -- they had three teams (Hobart, Elmira and Manhattanville) chosen to the NCAA Tournament."
Hobart is being led in scoring by freshman forward Matthew Wallace (14-10-24), senior forward Shawn Houde (11-12-23), sophomore forward Nick DeCroo (15-7-22), freshman forward Thomas Capalbo (3-19-22) and freshman forward Patrick Moriarty (11-10-21).
Senior Dimitri Papaevagelou has a 14-6-2 record between the pipes and a 2.25 goals-against average.
The Cardinals counter with freshman forward Dylan Clarke (18-15-33), junior forward Riley Hill (14-17-31), sophomore forward Joey Wilson (10-20-30), freshman forward Eric Satim (9-19-28) and junior defenseman Nick Rolls (13-14-27).
Freshman Bryan Hince sports a 20-4-0 record in net and a 2.02 goals-against-average.
When it comes to special teams, the Cardinals are ranked fourth in the country on the powerplay, while Hobart is 27th on the penalty kill.
The Statesmen's powerplay, meanwhile, is ranked 30th in the nation, while the Cardinals' penalty kill stands at No. 14.
Plattsburgh State averages only 10.7 minutes in penalty minutes a game and the Cardinals are the second-least penalized team in Division III men's hockey.
"It's all one game at a time now and it's one and done," said Emery. "This is when the character comes through.
"We will have to work hard and get some bounces. We haven't played in a while, but I'm glad we don't have that as an excuse. Hobart also hasn't had a game since we last played."
The Cardinals' last game was a 4-3 thriller at home over conference rival Oswego in the SUNYAC Tournament on March 1.
The Statesmen, meanwhile, dropped a 6-3 contest to Elmira in the ECAC West semifinals, also on March 1.
The Stafford Ice Arena is undergoing a major facelift in the off season and this will be the final men's hockey game played there before the renovations.
"We're fortunate to be home and our fans are like a seventh player on the ice for us," Emery said. "But, that doesn't guarantee a win.
"This will be our last home game at the Stafford Ice Arena as we know it now and there have been a lot of good memories here."
The Cardinals will be at full strength physically for the game.
The last meeting between the Cardinals and Statesmen came on Jan. 5, 2001 when Plattsburgh State skated to a 5-2 victory in the Cardinal Classic.
Note: Tickets sales for the game have been good, but college officials said there are still plenty of tickets available at the door.
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Hobart Statesmen
(18-7-2 overall)
Game results
Opponent Result
at Buffalo State W, 4-2
Buffalo State W, 2-0
Neumann W, 4-3
Lebanon Valley W, 7-2
at Western N.E. College W, 7-0
at Wentworth W, 6-0
at Oswego W, 5-2
at Brockport W, 6-5
at Manhattanville L, 1-3
at Utica L, 2-3
Potsdam W, 5-2
at Williams W, 6-1
at Geneseo W, 3-1
at Curry W, 5-3
at Neumann L, 2-4
at Neumann W, 5-4
Manhattanville L, 1-4
Manhattanville L, 1-3
at Lebanon Valley W, 8-0
at Lebanon Valley W, 5-1
at Elmira T, 3-3
Utica L, 3-5
Utica W, 5-2
Elmira W, 3-1
Elmira T, 3-3
Neumann W, 3-2
at Elmira L, 3-6
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Individual statistics
Scoring
Player g a pts
Matthew Wallace, Fr. F 14 10 24
Shawn Houde, Sr. F 11 12 23
Nick DeCroo, So. F 15 7 22
Thomas Capalbo, Fr. F 3 19 22
Patrick Moriarty, Fr. F 11 10 21
Ryan Adler, Jr. D 4 12 16
Andrew Brennan, Jr. D 1 14 15
Bobby Cahill, So. F 8 6 14
Aleksey Koval, So. F 5 9 14
Brian Cibelli, Sr. F 4 10 14
Jason Merritt, Jr. F 3 1114
Jordan Zitoun, So. D 3 9 12
Blake Bonham, So. F 4 6 10
Bryant Harris, Jr. D 3 7 10
Daniel Organ, Fr. F 4 3 7
Michael Steiner, Jr. D 2 4 6
Gregory Alberti, So. F 3 2 5
Kyle Whitaker, Fr. D 2 2 4
Christopher Bower, Fr. F 0 4 4
Drew Wadsworth, So. D 3 0 3
Edward Brzek, Sr. F 20 2
Dan Miller, So. D 1 1 2
Kirk Golden, Jr. F 1 1 2
Jeremy Dwyer, Fr. F 0 2 2
Alex Contis, Fr. F 1 0 1
Goaltending
Goalie W LT GAA
Keith Longo, Jr. 14 6 2 2.34
Dimitri Papaevagelou 4 1 0 2.25
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Conference: ECAC West
Goals for-against: 108-65
Head coach: Mark Taylor
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Plattsburgh State Cardinals
(23-4 overall)
Game results
Opponent result
Morrisville W, 5-1
Morrisville W, 6-2
Potsdam W, 11-1
at Oswego W, 4-2
at Cortland W, 5-2
at Buffalo State W, 6-1
at Fredonia W, 3-0
at Elmira L, 2-3
St. John's W, 4-3
Norwich W, 5-3
Brockport W, 6-1
Geneseo W, 5-4
at Middlebury L, 2-3
at Williams W, 8-1
Tufts W, 9-2
St. ScholasticaW, 3-2
at Norwich W, 3-2
Skidmore W, 8-1
Oswego W, 3-2
Cortland W, 3-2
Buffalo State W, 5-2
Fredonia L, 1-3
at Brockport W, 4-2
at Geneseo W, 6-3
at Potsdam L, 2-4
Potsdam W, 6-0
Oswego W, 4-3
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Individual statistics
Scoring
Player g a pts
Dylan Clarke, Fr. F 18 15 33
Riley Hill, Jr. F 14 1731
Joey Wilson, So. F 10 20 30
Eric Satim, Fr. F 9 19 28
Nick Rolls, Jr. D 13 14 27
Andrew Willock, So. F 4 20 24
Ryan Corry, Fr. D 3 21 24
Ward Smith, So. D 6 17 23
Phil Farrow, So. F 8 14 22
T.J. Cooper, Sr. F 9 8 17
Mike Baccaro, Sr. F 6 11 17
C.J. Tozzo, Sr. F 5 7 12
Dan Sliasis Fr. F 6 5 11
Tom Breslin, So. D 3 8 11
Eric Greene, So. D 2 5 7
Mike Schiavi, Fr. F 3 3 6
Kyle VanDermale, Fr. F 3 3 6
Mike Thomson, Jr. F 3 3 6
Shawn Dennis Jr. F 2 3 5
Ryan Burke, Jr. D 1 2 3
Devin Bancroft, Fr. D 1 1 2
Bryan Hince , Fr. G 0 1 1
Goaltending
Goalie W L T GAA
Bryan Hince, Fr. 20 4 0 2.02
Chris Molinaro, Jr. 0 0 0 1.50
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Conference: SUNYAC
Goals for-against: 129-55
Head coach: Bob Emery
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