The Plattsburgh State men’s ice hockey team has officially made it to the SUNYAC tournament after the two wins it had against Morrisville State College this past weekend.
According to freshman defenseman, and this week’s PrestoSports Rookie of the Week, Christian Dahl, “it’s an unbelievable feeling to have earned the right to play in the SUNYAC Tournament.”
Dahl also said it is an honor to have been selected Rookie of the Week, but is more excited about the two wins The Cardinals earned this past weekend.
Something that helped the team’s win was the fact that no one on the ice was playing selfishly, and they played complete games, freshman forward Joe Kile said.
PSU started this weekend with a win on Friday night against Morrisville with a finishing score of 8-2.
At the beginning of the game, the Mustangs scored a goal, but the Cards answered with 2 goals from sophomore defenseman Matt Arujo, and freshman forward Hunter Alden.
With Alden’s first goal of the season, he put PSU in the lead by one point.
Junior forward Mike Falanga would then score at the beginning of the second period, giving the Cards their third point of the night.
Morrisville would score its final goal of the night within the same period.
Freshman forward Adam Tretowicz would score during the second period, with an assist from alternate captain and senior forward, Joe Drabin, putting PSU in the lead by two points again.
Drabin would later follow, gaining another point for the Cards with an assist from Dahl.
At the start of the third period, Tretowicz would score his second goal of the night, assisted by freshman forwards Mitchell Hale and Christian Thomas.
Alden scored for the second time in the third period with an assist from Dahl and junior forward Liam Lawson.
Finishing the game with his first goal of the night, and the last point for PSU, freshman forward, Brendan Young was assisted by sophomore forward Christian DeFelice.
The Cards faced the Mustangs for a second time the following night. However, Morrisville would face another defeat.
What made the difference this game that led to the victory for PSU was playing with a level of desperation and consistent energy that the players have struggled to find throughout the season, Dahl said.
In the first period of the game, only the Mustangs scored, however, the second period is where the Cards started to make a comeback.
The start of the second period is when Hale scored for PSU with an assist from Tretowicz. Lawson would then score for the Cards with an assist from DiFelice and senior defenseman Andrew Pizzo.
PSU would then gain three more points in the third period by graduate student defenseman and captain, Philip Middleton, Pizzo and Dahl.
The score would then finish off 5-1, meaning the Cards would officially be making it to the SUNYAC tournament.
After finding out they would be going to the SUNYAC tournament, Kile said, “It’s nice to be on a little bit of a roll, have a little bit of confidence.”
The wins will eventually help them keep their spirits up throughout these next couple of games.
According to Dahl, PSU has a quick turn around from Saturday night’s win to traveling to Brockport Tuesday, so there was an emphasis on taking care of their bodies and getting rest.
The Cards topped Brockport 3-2 and will proceed to the SUNYAC tournament semifinals, going against Oswego Tuesday, March 3.
Email Angelica Melara at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
