"We were able to get the puck in deep and do all the simple things that it takes," added Cardinals' defenseman Ryan Corry, who assisted on four goals.

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead at 5:58 of the first period when Joey Wilson managed to get the puck just over the line from in close off some nice work down low in the Hobart end by Shawn Dennis.

The Statesmen, however, drew even at 10:01 when the Cardinals had some problems getting the puck out of their zone. Jason Merritt scored from in close to knot the score.

Plattsburgh State then took the lead for good, at 2-1, with just 1:23 gone in the second on Rolls' power-play goal. Rolls skated down the right side and cut towards the net to beat Longo.

"I just started skating, got a step on the defenseman and shot a backhander that rolled over the goaltender's pad," Rolls said.

The Cardinals finished with a 49-28 advantage in shots on goal, including a combined 35-17 margin in the second and third periods.

Hince stopped 26 of 28 shots and Longo finished with 44 saves on 48 shots.

"Our work ethic showed and we were able to win the battles," Hince said. "We didn't make any big mistakes and got the puck in deep.

"All I wanted to do was just play my game."

"They were more effective in the slot than we were," said Hobart head coach Mark Taylor. "We didn't do enough in the slot.

"We did hit a couple of posts in the game and didn't get the bounces. But, we just didn't get enough chances. I didn't feel that the game had slipped away from us until their empty-net goal. Then, that was it."

Special teams were a factor, with the Cardinals going two-of-five on the powerplay and the Statesmen scoreless in four tries.

"It was a good-skating game with not a lot of penalties," Taylor said. "We were in position on their two power-play goals, but they were able to make good one-on-one plays to score."

In other NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinal action Saturday night, St. Norbert skated to a 2-1 overtime win over St. Thomas, Norwich rolled to a 7-2 victory over Manhattanville and Elmira was a 6-1 winner over Trinity.

In Saturday's Final Four semifinals in Lake Placid, it will be St. Norbert against Norwich at 12:30 p.m., followed by Plattsburgh State versus Elmira in the 4 p.m. contest.