The SUNY Plattsburgh women’s hockey team’s offense bounced back from a low-scoring outing against Potsdam Nov. 13 with a 5-1 win last Saturday against SUNY Canton.
With their latest win of the season, the Cardinals tied their own record for the longest winning streak in NCAA Division III women’s hockey with 25 straight. They started the current streak last season with a 6-0 win against Buffalo State Jan. 12.
Plattsburgh State recently broke a different record for most home games won in a row that now stands at 30 with their win against Canton.
The Cards (7-0), who lead the NEWHL in points, goals and shots per game, narrowly avoided their first loss of the season against the Bears (3-3) in a 2-1 win at Potsdam that went to overtime.
It was a focus for head coach Kevin Houle that his team’s offense got off to an early start against SUNY Canton.
“Coming out in the first period, it was very important for our team to come in with a couple-goal lead, which we were able to do. Just kind of take that pressure off in terms of being able to put the puck in the net and put teams away early,” Houle said.
SUNY Plattsburgh scored its first goal 38 seconds from the puck drop.
Junior forward Annie Katonka was happy with how the team responded to the overtime win.
“We came in hungry, wanting to put a couple more goals in,” Katonka said. “Their goalie was hot in Potsdam, so it was definitely nice today to get four in the first period. It was nice to get some goals early and play with a lead. It’s more fun.”
After putting four goals on the board by four different scorers in the first period, Plattsburgh State added another goal, Katonka’s second of the game, during a power play the following period.
Penalties started to pile on for both teams in the second period with nine between the two — three committed by Canton, and six committed by the Cards.
“It took away from the flow of the game 100 percent,” Houle said. “They obviously thought they could rough us up a little bit. It just wasn’t a good period to watch. We were up five-nothing, so we had nothing to prove on a power play or anything like that, but it was a chance to get some work in. We just wanted to get out of there without any injuries.”
Canton netted its first and only goal of the game 1:54 into the third period. SUNY Plattsburgh led the rest of the game onto its seventh win of the season.
SUNY Plattsburgh will be in Middlebury, Vermont, tomorrow for the Panther/Cardinal Classic. The Cards face the University of Wisconsin-River Falls first at 6 p.m., followed by the championship or consolation game Sunday.
