MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team never quit Friday night.

This time, however, the Cardinals fell short.

Host Middlebury College jumped out to a 3-0 lead -- scoring a goal in each period -- and then held on for a 3-2 non-conference win.

The Panthers improved to 4-2-1 overall while the Cardinals lost for just the second time this season in falling to 11-2 overall.

"We played hard for the most part," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "The guys showed their resiliency again and didn't quit."

Middlebury grabbed the lead for good when Mickey Gilchrist scored at 11:22 of the first period and then made it 2-0 on Ken Suchoski's short-handed tally at 2:58 of the second period.

"We can't make mental mistakes against a good team like Middlebury and it cost us tonight," Emery said. "They have people who can put the puck in the net.

"We had a bad change on their first goal. They were opportunistic and took advantage.

"Then, on their second goal, we had a turnover on the blueline and they scored a short-handed goal. The goalie (Bryan Hince) was looking for a hard shot and the guy actually misfired on it. It was like a change-up in baseball."

It got worse for the Cardinals when Bryan Curran scored at 1:17 of the third to make it 3-0 Middlebury.

"I still thought we would be okay after the second period," Emery said. "But, then they came out and got that third goal right away and it took some of the wind out of our sails."

Plattsburgh State, however, tried to rally when defenseman Tom Breslin scored an unassisted goal at 17:49 and then Riley Hill with five seconds left in regulation.

"We were able to cut it to one, but then I looked up at the scoreboard and there were only five seconds left in the game," Emery said.

"We ran out of time tonight."

Doug Raeder stopped 22 of 24 shots in the Middlebury nets and Hince 19 of 22 for the Cardinals.