PLATTSBURGH — Plattsburgh State men's hockey coach Bob Emery says his team is a work in progress.

It looked that way Friday night.

Andrew Willock's goal with 2:59 left in the third period broke a 2-all tie and lifted the Cardinals to a season-opening 4-2 State University of New York Athletic Conference win over Geneseo at the Stafford Ice Arena.

"We played like a team playing its first game of the season," Emery said.

"I give Geneseo a lot of credit. They worked hard and took care of the front of their net."

The game was tied at 2-all entering the third period and the Ice Knights (0-3, 0-1) had an opportunity to take the lead with three powerplays early in the stanza.

"We took some bad penalties in the third period, which we can't do," Emery said. "I'll have to look at the tape to see how bad they were."

But, the Cardinals killed off all three and later went on a powerplay of their own with 15:15 gone in the third.

Willock took a hard shot from the slot that beat Geneseo netminder Cory Gershon at 17:01 for a power-play goal and a 3-2 Plattsburgh State lead.

Then, just 16 seconds later, Eric Satim skated his way in alone on Gershon and gave the Cardinals a two-goal advantage.

Plattsburgh State freshman netminder Josh Leis made a couple of saves in the final minute to preserve the win.

Geneseo grabbed the early lead in the game when Phil Rose beat Leis with a shot from the slot at 2:48 of the first period.

But, the Cardinals drew even with just 12 seconds left in the period when Phil Farrow passed the puck in front from the side and freshman Chris Wieland got around Gershon and slipped the puck into an open net.

"It wasn't like we didn't play hard in the first period," Emery said. "But, we were hesitant and showed no poise."

The Cardinals, however, picked up their play in the second period, but all they had to show for it was a 2-all tie.

Dylan Clarke jumped on a loose puck in front of the net to give Plattsburgh State the lead only 33 seconds into the stanza.

Danny Scagnelli, however, pulled the Ice Knights even when he backhanded a shot up top at 6:36.

Leis made his best save of the game when he stopped Sebastien Panetta on a breakaway at the 16:48 mark, with Geneseo shorthanded at the time.

"I don't know if we could have played much better in the second period," Emery said. "I would have liked to have seen us hit the net more. We put a lot of shots over the net.

"Leis is a confident guy and he gave us a chance to win. Anytime you hold an opponent to two goals or less, you should have an opportunity to win the game."

Plattsburgh State finished with a 32-23 shot advantage, with Leis finishing with 21 saves and Gershon, 28.

"We're a work in progress," Emery said. "I wasn't happy with the amount of times we went offsides and we had players staying on the ice too long."

In other SUNYAC action Friday, Potsdam skated to a 6-3 win over Brockport, who plays tonight at 7 p.m. in Plattsburgh. Oswego was a 4-1 winner over Buffalo State, Cortland outscored Fredonia by a 7-5 margin and Morrisville surprised Elmira, 2-1, in a non-conference game.

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Plattsburgh State 4, Geneseo 2

Score by periods:

Geneseo State 1 1 0 — 2

Plattsburgh State 1 1 2 — 4

First period- 1, Gen, Rose (Bulach), 2:48. 2, PSU, Wieland (Farrow, Adams), 19:48. Penalties- Rygiel, Gen (hooking), 8:43.

Second period- 3, PSU, Clarke (DeLong, Satim), :33. 4, Gen, Scagnelli (Arduin), 6:36. Penalties- Gen (too many men), 3:41. Charbonneau, Gen (obstruction), 15:01. Panetta, Gen (10-minute misconduct), 16:11. Farrow, PSU (holding), 19:02.

Third period- 5, PSU, Willock (Kavanagh), 17:01. 6, PSU, 6, PSU, Satim (Clarke), 17:17. Penalties- Kavanagh, PSU (interference), 1:30. Docking, PSU (tripping), 6:06. Yark, Gen (tripping), 15:15.

Shots on goal:

Geneseo State 8 8 7 — 23

Plattsburgh State 7 16 9 — 32

Goaltenders (shots-saves)- Gershon, Gen, 32-28. Leis, PSU, 23-21.

Powerplays (goals-opportunities)- Geneseo, 0-3. Plattsburgh, 1-4.

Attendance: 1748.