Cardinals fights for national spotlight

By Collin Bolebruch

The 2023-24 Plattsburgh Cardinals men’s hockey team came one puck bounce away from being back-to-back SUNYAC Champions.

The Cards hosted its first SUNYAC title since 2016, losing to the Cortland Red Dragons in overtime. Plattsburgh finished 21-5-2, 12-3-1 and missed an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament.

This year’s squad wants to rectify that finish.

“It lights a huge fire under our bums,” said Spencer Bellina, junior defenseman. “I think guys really understand how valuable every game is and how important it is to win.”

They’re already on the right track at 1-0.

“Anytime you lose on home ice in the last game of the season, if you don’t have motivation for the next season, you’ve got to check your pulse,” said Jake Lanyi, senior forward.

The program has undergone a revitalization with head coach Steve Moffat. In the season before his arrival in 2019, the Cards won just 13 games — its worst record in 42 years.

 Plattsburgh has now at least 20 games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2014-15 and 2015-16, and received a No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2016.

After a brief rebuild, the Cardinals are back on the national stage.

“Pressure is privilege, and it’s something that you earn with being a top team,” said Luk Jirousek, senior forward. “We love that pressure. We rise to the occasion. Guys love to play in the big games.”

FORWARDS

The Cardinals lost their top scorer and All-SUNYAC First Team forward selection Bennett Stockdale after he signed with the Maine Mariners of the ECHL this past summer. Stockdale provided 19 goals and 17 assists during the 2023-24 campaign and scored 89 points through his three seasons with the team.

Also missing from the roster is last year’s captain and five-year vet Adam Tretowicz, who graduated. Tretowicz scored seven goals and 14 assists in his final year and 69 points in four seasons.

Fellow forward departures include Thomas Maia, Ryan Butler, Trey Thomas and Paul Bryer — who was good for 20 points last year, and 52 over three seasons.

Seven forwards have joined Plattsburgh for a total of 16 on the roster.

The most exciting addition is junior Division I transfer Jake Sacratini from American International College, who scored a power play goal in the exhibition against Skidmore College on Oct. 26. The Montréaler is the son of 17-year hockey pro and Italian Olympian Vezio Sacratini.

The team’s close proximity to home and a larger offensive role were sellers to Jake Sacratini.

“It honestly feels like it’s not my first year here,” Sacratini said. “It’s been pretty easy adapting and the chemistry is kind of there with everyone.”

Sacratini is the fifth DI transfer to Plattsburgh since 2021-22, a list including Stockdale, Jacob Modry ‘23, Marcus Mitchell ‘23 and Carson Gallagher. Two — Stockdale and Modry — were All-SUNYAC First Team selections and play in the ECHL.

The six first-year forwards on the team include: Shane Bondy and Patrick Cole from the OJHL, Blake Hall from the GOJHL, Brody Spencer-Ha from the AJHL, William Jasmin from the NCDC and Tyler Ramm from the NAHL.

“We’re getting to a point where we can be pretty selective with our recruits coming in,” Moffat said. “I think we’ve done a decent job, but you’re always a class away from struggling again.”

Moffat said it was “huge” that the rookies got game experience in the exhibition against No. 12 Skidmore. They’ve been picking up Plattsburgh’s systems, and he said their success will hinge on how quickly they adjust to pace of play.

“I could have never expected this. I’ve never glued and meshed with a team so quickly,” Ramm said. “I had no idea what I was walking into on day one and the second everyone was here it was like I’ve known them my whole life.”

Nine returners round out the group including: seniors Jagger Benson, Jirousek and Lanyi; juniors Joshua Belgrave, Ryan Bonfield, Colin Callanan and Riley Sutherland and sophomores Aaron Catron and SUNYAC Rookie of the Year Tio D’Addario.

Jirousek said he anticipates having more poise on the ice, holding onto the puck longer and creating more space for his teammates. He acknowledged the concern that is Stockdale’s departure, but said the offense could be even better with Sacratini.

Belgrave, D’Addario and Jirousek were the team’s top-three returning scorers, notching more than 20 points each. Lanyi was “snakebit,” according to Moffat, scoring a career-low three goals but providing 16 assists on 84 shots.

Bonfield played just 14 of 28 games because of health, but scored nine points and both goals in the SUNYAC Championship.

Jirousek described the group as “dogs,” and that it’s especially tenacious with the forecheck and refusing other teams space. D’Addario said the lines are balanced, and each one is expected to produce points.

DEFENSE

On the blueline, the Cardinals lost just one player in captain Ryan Hogg. The fifth-year scored 17 points last season and was named to the All-SUNYAC Second Team. During his tenure, Hogg scored 45 points.

Plattsburgh added one rookie defenseman in Nick Recupero, teammate of Ramm on the Northeast Generals.

Recupero and Ramm have been friends for over a decade. After playing together for the last two years of juniors, made a “package deal” commitment, Recupero said.

Eight of nine defensemen are returners: graduate student All-SUNYAC Second Team selection Kevin Weaver-Vitale; seniors Ryan Poorman and 2022-23 All-SUNYAC Second Team selection Jack Ring; juniors Bellina, Lonan Bulger and Brannon Butler and sophomores Sam D’Amico and Simon Singher.

Bulger and Ring each had 14 points last season, and Weaver-Vitale scored 15. All had at least a dozen assists.

While the forwards gel, there will be added pressure on the defense to start the season, Moffat told Plattsburgh State Athletics. 

The chemistry the defensemen have already established will help to keep the puck out of the defensive zone and accommodate the forwards’ playstyles, and Lanyi called the group the team’s “security blanket.” The vets agree.

“Our offense stems from our defense,” Weaver-Vitale said. “We’re really excited that we have everyone back.”

The goaltender room looks entirely the same, with senior All-SUNYAC Second Team selection Jacob Hearne, junior 2022-23 Team MVP Eli Shiller and sophomore Dominik Bovan returning to the crease.

Plattsburgh has greatly benefitted from having two starting-quality goalies, alternating games and riding a hot hand into playoffs. In 2023-24, that was Hearne — Shiller finished last season 3-2 in conference games while Hearne was 12-2. 

Both have reached the SUNYAC Championship as the primary starter, with Shiller in 2023 and Hearne in 2024. Hearne started the first game against Vermont State University Castleton.

“Being able to have coaches have confidence in me in high-pressure situations helped me grow as a player and as a person,” Hearne said. “I feel like I’m able to manage adversity and conflict a lot better.”

LEADERSHIP

The Cardinals ditched last season’s format of two captains and two alternate captains in favor of four “C”s on the ice: Bellina, Jirousek, Lanyi and Weaver-Vitale.

“Whether you have a ‘C’ or not, guys are helping each other,” Jirousek said. “It makes being a leader on this team really easy.”

Moffat said the team culture wasn’t where it needed to be when he was hired, and that the team is better off with the players leading the locker room. Every player has stepped up to serve in some capacity.

“If we have 28 guys leading, we’re going to be a lot better when we just have four,” Moffat said.

The team is full of unique players and personalities, but they haven’t split off into cliques. Each guy leads in his own way, “C” or not.

“You have certain guys who are talkers. You have certain guys who are lead by example,” Bellina said. “I think it’s really good that everybody brings their own piece to this one big puzzle.”

Lanyi said the players selected to wear the letters make great sense, having experienced both the highs and lows of college hockey.

“The neat thing about all the “C”s this year is we’ve all struggled in the beginning of our careers,” Lanyi said. “If a guy is not in the lineup, we can relate.”

The captains serve as examples of what every player can be, down to the fourth line and the sixth defenseman.

“Just because we have letters on our chest, it doesn’t mean really anything,” Weaver-Vitale said. “We’re all one big group.”

SCHEDULE

The Cardinals were ranked No. 8 by U.S. College Hockey Online on Nov. 4. Cortland stands at No. 10. In the SUNYAC preseason poll Oct. 22, Plattsburgh finished first, Oswego second and Cortland third.

Plattsburgh’s SUNYAC schedule will look significantly different this season as SUNY Brockport and SUNY Geneseo elected to depart for the United Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The Geneseo Knights won five of the last eight SUNYAC Championships and have been ranked No. 7 ahead of the season by U.S. College Hockey Online.

The conference has added the Canton Kangaroos to bring the league’s number to eight. The ‘Roos finished last season 8-16-1 as an independent and are ranked sixth in the SUNYAC preseason poll, ahead of 2023 playoff team Potsdam.

The Cardinals play each SUNYAC team twice, once at home and once on the road.

Plattsburgh will participate in two annual tournaments this season: the LayerEight Shootout in Middlebury the weekend after Thanksgiving and the Comfort Inn Winter Classic in Plattsburgh the second weekend of January 2025.

In the Shootout, the Cards play Norwich on Nov. 29 and the winner between Marian and Middlebury on Nov. 30.

In the Classic, Plattsburgh plays Wentworth Institute of Technology on Jan. 11, 2025 and the winner between Wilkes and the University of New England on Jan. 12.

Outside of the conference and tournaments, the Cardinals will play Keene State, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Williams and Amherst. Plattsburgh plays No. 11 Plymouth State tonight at 6 p.m. on the road.

“Especially early on in the year, it’s good to play a top team, because you actually learn something,” Bellina said.

While the Cardinals’ official home opener isn’t until the Nov. 22 rematch against Cortland, Plattsburgh will host an exhibition game against DI hopeful club Simon Fraser from Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Plattsburgh can’t afford to make the same mistakes as last season. The Cards need to build momentum every day and approach each game with the same intensity.

“We just take the foot off the gas for one minute, that’s all it takes and it can change your season,” Jirousek said. “Our plan this year is to attack every game like it’s the SUNYAC final.”