ELMIRA -- The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team's strong start to the 2007-08 season hit a little snag Saturday night.

Elmira College scored two goals within a 1:14 span in the third period to rally past the Cardinals, 3-2, in a non-conference game.

It was the first loss of the season for Plattsburgh State, which had won its previous seven contests -- all in the State University of New York Athletic Conference. The Soaring Eagles, meanwhile, improved their unbeaten record to 5-0-1.

"I'm not sure that we got outworked tonight," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "But, they had better leadership than us. They did the little things better than we did.

"We took some stupid penalties which is uncharacteristic for us. That gave them a lot of momentum in the second period, which was our worse in two and a half years. We got away from playing Cardinal hockey and that's getting the puck in deep."

The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead into the third when Dave McKenna tied it at 11:34 and then Nicolas Dumoulin with the game-winner, shortly after, at 12:48.

Defenseman Ryan Corry gave Plattsburgh State the lead at 3:41 of the first stanza.

Rick Schrank pulled Elmira even at 14:03 of the second on a powerplay before Mike Baccaro's unassisted goal put the Cardinals back on top, 2-1, at 17:44.

Elmira held a 31-24 shot advantage, including a 17-6 edge in the second period.

Casey Tuttle made 22 saves in net for the win and Bryan Hince 28 stops for Plattsburgh State.

The Cardinals were whistled for seven penalties and the Soaring Eagles, three.

"If we learn anything from the weekend is that our practices leading up to the game weren't good enough," Emery said. "We have to keep in mind that we are a blue-collar team. We need to play smart hockey and do all the little things.

"It was a huge game for us because it could mean a lot at the end of the year. But, we have to move ahead because our schedule doesn't get any easier."

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Elmira 3, Plattsburgh State 2