COTLAND, NY – Fresh off a dominant 5-0 shutout of Morrisville the night before, extending their undefeated start to conference play and maintaining an immaculate defensive record against SUNYAC opponents, the Plattsburgh State women’s hockey team continued their road weekend on Saturday with a match against Cortland. Historically, the Cardinals have controlled the series with an all-time record of 57-5-1, although last season saw a more competitive split of 2-2 over four meetings.
Cortland challenged early and took advantage of their opportunities to build a 3-1 lead in the opening period. Plattsburgh’s only goal of the first came then Emily Kasprzak (Niagara, NY) curled behind the net and centered a pass to the slot, where Tessa Morris (Grand Island, NY) came into the game on a streak and finished the feed to close the deficit. Despite trailing by two heading into the second, the Cardinals settled down and began to tilt the ice.
Plattsburgh struck again early in the middle frame. Working from behind the net, Molly Riggi (Farmingdale, NJ) centered a pass to Kayson Ruegge (Edmond, Oklahoma), whose first shot was rejected. Zoe Pug (West Palm Beach, Fla.) jumped on the rebound for another try that was also stopped, but Riggi followed the play and put away the third try, bringing the Cardinals within one. The momentum continued to build and Plattsburgh even pulled away later in the period. After a clean win in Morris’ offensive zone, Brooke Terry (Massena, NY) collected the puck and fired a quick shot toward the goal that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net, tying the game at 3-3.
With the Cardinals in complete control, the third period kicked off with the go-ahead whistle. After a blocked point shot from Taya Balfour(Moorestown, NJ) was redirected to the slot, a streaking Ella Fesette (Plattsburgh, NY) pounced on the loose puck and buried the opportunity, completing the comeback and giving Plattsburgh its first lead of the night just 3:18 into the period. From there, the Cardinals locked up defensively and closed out the 4–3 win, improving to 5–1–0 overall and 4–0–0 in SUNYAC play.
The victory extends Plattsburgh’s undefeated conference streak and shows another resilient effort from a team that continues to respond in key moments. The Cardinals will participate in the Cardinal/Panther Classic next weekend, hosted by Middlebury, where they will face No. 1 University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Nov. 29 at 6 p.m.
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