Plattsburgh at Oswego tonight

By JOHN CORYER
Staff Writer

November 02, 2007 04:00 am

— PLATTSBURGH -- Bob Emery, after watching his Plattsburgh State men's hockey team sweep back-to-back home games with Morrisville State (5-1, 6-2) a couple of weeks ago, figured the young Cardinals would get more of a test last Friday at home against Potsdam.
That didn't happen, however, as the Cardinals rolled to an 11-1 win over the young Bears.
But, one thing is definitely certain this weekend when Plattsburgh State hits the road for the first time this season.
The Cardinals will be in for a test tonight when they tangle with Oswego in State University of New York Athletic Conference action at 7 p.m. at the Campus Center Ice Arena.
The Lakers, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III poll heading into the season, are the defending national champions in Division III.
"They lost only one key player from last year," Emery said. "We have to play our game against them -- we have to play Cardinal Hockey.
"We have to stay out of the box, do a good job of penalty killing when we are in the box, take advantage of our scoring chances and get good goaltending."
The 2007-08 season didn't start out all that well for Oswego last weekend in back-to-back non-conference games with Elmira College.
The Lakers (0-1-1, 0-0-0) dropped a 2-1 setback at home to the Soaring Eagles and then skated to a 4-all overtime tie the following day in Elmira.
"Oswego is coming off a bad weekend and that isn't good for us," Emery said. "They are coming off a storybook season and I don't know what to expect. But, I do know they will be ready for us."
The Cardinals are off to an encouraging start, but playing Oswego is a big step up in talent.
"Our team have been looking good, but we should look good considering who we have played," Emery said, "Now, it's time for us to put up. We put the players back in their place at practice this week.
"We should be confident going in, but I don't know how prepared we will be. This begins a stretch of road games for us and we would like to get off to a good early start in the SUNYAC.
"We have to break it down into 25 individual seasons."
The Cardinals have received balanced scoring in their first three games, with Nick Rolls (3-2-5), Mike Baccaro (2-3-5), Ward Smith (2-3-5) and Riley Hill (2-3-5) are tied for the team lead in scoring.
Freshman Bryan Hince been in net for two of Plattsburgh State's victories.
The Cardinals are in pretty good shape physically, with forwards Andrew Willock and Kyle VanDermale being the lone question marks this weekend.
Last season, the Lakers and Cardinals played to a 5-all overtime tie in Plattsburgh in their first regular season meeting and Plattsburgh State then skated to a 4-1 decision late in the season at Oswego.
Saturday, Plattsburgh State finishes off its weekend on the road at Cortland for a 7 p.m. SUNYAC contest.
The Red Dragons (1-2, 0-0) opened their season by dropping two games in the SUNYAC Challenge -- 5-2 to Fredonia and 4-1 to host Buffalo State.
Cortland, however, is coming off a 6-3 decision over Lebanon Valley in its last contest.