PLATTSBURGH -- The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team made sure its final game in the present Stafford Ice Arena was a memorable one Saturday night.

The Cardinals skated to a 5-2 victory over Hobart College in the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals to advance to the Final Four this coming weekend in Lake Placid.

Plattsburgh State (24-4 overall) got better and better as the game wore on.

"We played tentative for the first 10 minutes of the game," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "But, we played well in the second and third periods. We were able to sustain a lot of pressure.

"We were able to get our cycle going and we played smart hockey in the second and third periods -- as smart as we have played all season."

The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead into the third stanza and then outshot the Statesmen (18-8-2) by a 19-8 margin to pull away.

Plattsburgh State grabbed a 3-1 advantage when Phil Farrow skated around the slot area in almost a complete circle and sent a shot up top from the side to beat Hobart netminder Keith Longo for a power-play goal at 3:33.

Cardinals' goaltender Bryan Hince then made perhaps his biggest save of the game with 9:55 left in regulation to preserve the two-goal lead.

"I kind of lost sight of the puck and fell awkwardly," the freshman standout said. "But, I kicked my pad up and all I know is the puck stayed out of the net."

Then, with the Cardinals applying pressure in the Hobart zone, Farrow put home a rebound to score his second goal of the period and make it a three-goal game.

"It was just rolling for me -- sometimes goals come in bunches," he said.

"Our third goal was a big one for us and then getting the three-goal lead was huge," Emery said.

Hobart pulled Longo for an extra attacker in the final minutes and a Bryant Harris shot from just beyond the slot area somehow ended up blooping over Hince and into the net to make it 4-2 at 18:15.

Dylan Clarke, however, sealed it with an empty-net goal at 19:04.

"We work hard in practice every day," said Plattsburgh State defenseman Nick Rolls. "That allows us to kind of wear teams down in the third period."