Cardinals host SUNYAC pair

By JOHN CORYER
Staff Writer

November 30, 2007 04:00 am

— PLATTSBURGH -- Last weekend was a good one for the Plattsburgh State men's hockey team.
The host Cardinals ran their overall record to 9-1 by winning the Annual PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout -- 4-3 in overtime over Saint John's (Minn.) on Friday in the opening round and then a 5-3 victory over Norwich University in Saturday's championship game.
But Cardinals' head coach Bob Emery, although obviously pleased with his team's performance, says it's time to move on.
"We found a way to win on Friday," he said. "And, on Saturday, our conditioning showed in the third period and we played well with the lead. I was also very pleased that we came out of a tough weekend with nobody suffering a major injury.
"But, as great a weekend as it was for us, it's over now. We have much more important games on the schedule this weekend."
Plattsburgh State, leading the State University of New York Athletic Conference with a 7-0 record, close out their conference first semester play with home games against Brockport tonight at 7 p.m. and then Geneseo on Saturday at 7 p.m.
"Winning two conference games this weekend would be a nice Christmas present for us," Emery said. "But, we need to play six solid periods of hockey.
"We're everyone's big game and we have to be emotionally ready. We have to remember that we're a blue collar team. We have to work hard to be successful."
Brockport is 2-6-1 overall on the season and 1-3-1 in the conference.
The Golden Eagles own a 7-3 conference win over Cortland and a 4-all tie with Buffalo State. Their three losses in the conference have been by two goals or less -- 3-2 to Fredonia, 4-3 to Oswego and 3-1 to Geneseo.
Brockport's previous game was on Nov. 18 in a 6-5 non-conference loss to undefeated Hobart, currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, one spot ahead of the Cardinals, in Division III.
Senior center Chris Koras has accounted for 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) in nine games to lead the Golden Eagles' offense.
"You can't look at Brockport's record," Emery said. "They have given everyone they've played a good game. They will play hard.
"The one good thing is that they will not play in a defensive shell and will come right at us."
The Cardinals, meanwhile, continue to get good balanced scoring, with three of the top six point producers on the team being defensemen.
The top four point getters for Plattsburgh State include junior forward Riley Hill (7-7-14), sophomore defenseman Ward Smith (4-9-13), freshman forward Dylan Clarke (6-5-11) and junior defenseman Nick Rolls (5-6-11).
Freshman Bryan Hince has been between the pipes for eight of the Cardinals' 10 games thus far, sporting a 7-1 record and a 1.74 goals-against-average.
"Everyone on the team is healthy and ready to go this weekend," Emery said.
Geneseo, the Cardinals' opponent on Saturday, is 4-5 overall and 4-3 in the SUNYAC.
The Knights, who last played Nov. 16 in a 3-1 victory at Brockport, are in Potsdam tonight.
Two former Plattsburgh State players are now skating for Geneseo.
Junior forward Kevin Galan is tied for third on the team in scoring with six points -- all goals -- while junior defenseman Casey Smith has recorded two assists in the Knights' first nine contests.
Following this weekend, the Cardinals finish off the first semester with two more tough non-conference games -- Friday at Middlebury College and Saturday at Williams College.