By Michael Purtell
As always, Plattsburgh women’s ice hockey enters SUNYAC play shouldering high expectations.
U.S. College Hockey Online listed the Cardinals at No. 6 in its preseason coaching poll. The team jumped to No. 3 after its 3-1 win over No. 14 Norwich on Nov. 2. Despite being a young team with 11 first-years and six sophomores on the roster, Plattsburgh State is priming itself to conquer Division III hockey.
“At Plattsburgh State, there’s obviously a high standard that you walk into, and it’s very well known from the day you step on campus for the recruiting process. We all come here because of the success of the team in previous years,” senior defenseman Mattie Norton said.
‘Learning on the job’
The Cardinals are defined by a massive recruiting class. Eleven of the team’s 26 players are first-years, and they bring with them a new level of talent from the first-years of the past.
The seven rookies include: Julia and Emma Holmes, two triplets from Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts; Kayson Ruegge from the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers in West Chester, Pennsylvania; Ashley O’Hara from the Syracuse Valley Eagles in Syracuse, New York; Ella Procyk from Lovell Academy in Rockland, Massachusetts; Kate Conlon from Little Caesars in Farmington, Michigan and Tessa Morris from Rome Girl’s Hockey in Rome, New York.
The first-year blueliners are Yoo Seoyoung from the Ontario Hockey Academy in Cornwall, Ontario and Marina McCann from the St. Louis Lady Blues in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
The goaltender group features two first-years: Ava Varecka from Nichols School in Buffalo, New York and Maddy Stetson from Little Caesars.
“Going back to last year, every time we played a NESCAC team, they were always so fast. We’ve never really been like the fastest team,” sophomore goaltender Chloe Lewis said. “This year, these freshmen bring speed to our team, and I feel like a lot of the older skaters have been capitalizing on that.”
The talent is indicative of a trend across sports in which players are getting more talented at younger ages, increasing the level of play from new recruits every year.
“(The first-years) bring such a different level of talent and skill that you didn’t see five years ago throughout youth hockey, and it’s just awesome to see that in our team and in our play,” Lewis said.
But the SUNYAC is a college league, and the new faces are being met with new challenges on the ice. Luckily for the Cardinals, head coach Kevin Houle will be at the helm for his 22nd season to help acclimate the new skaters.
“We don’t have any transfers this year,” Houle said. “So they’re all learning on the job here, probably more so than most first-years, but they will have more of an impact on our program when it comes to playing time.”
‘We always want to go hard’
On the ice, the Cardinals are buckling down on the blue line to redefine Plattsburgh State hockey.
“This year, I think we try to play a shutdown defensive game first, and then we go on the offense, and as soon as we can attack, we attack hard and fast. Try to keep other teams on their toes and catch them when they’re maybe not ready for it,” Norton said. “I think, honestly, our grit and determination seem to be our identity on the ice. We always want to go hard.”
Defensemen back for another year are sophomores Maegan Forsyth and Adriana Urban and juniors Taya Balfour and Su-An Cho.
Lewis will be the primary starting goalie.
The offensive identity of the team will come from that gritty mentality.
“We really want to focus on getting, like, a lot of changes on the rush, so kind of going off that defensive mentality,” fifth-year forward Mae Olshansky said. “It’s like the oldest cliche in sports: great defense makes great offense.”
The philosophy of the team leans more toward win by committee, with everyone who touches the ice understanding that they need to contribute where they can on offense, especially with the team losing its two goal leaders from last season, forwards Julia Masotta and Zsófia Pázmándi.
Masotta graduated and Pázmándi transferred to Division I Lindenwood.
“It’s hard to lose some of your top players like that and have a good turnover the following year. But we have four solid lines. We rely a lot on one and two to maybe put goals in the net, but three and four if you don’t take them seriously enough, they can easily do the same thing,” Norton said.
Graduates not listed also include: All-SUNYAC First Teamer forward Ivy Boric and defenseman Kendall Wasik, starting goaltender Lilla Nease and forward Tatem Cheney.
Senior forward Riley Calhoun transferred to Utica University. Players left off this year’s roster include forwards Lilli Bills, Dani Longuemare and Grace Yarkosky and defenseman Aizah Thompson
Returning fifth-year forward Ciara Wall recorded the second most points on the team last year and the third most goals, and will be critical for the team in an expanded offensive role.
“Ciara Wall certainly was one of our top scorers last year. We expect a lot from her. She’s been a very good player for us for two years now, going on year three,” Houle said.
Houle also noted forwards Bridget Orr, a senior, and Emily Kasprzak, a sophomore, as returners to look out for on the offensive end.
Also returning in the forwards group are sophomores Sydnee Francis and Ava Mattaliano and juniors Ella Fesette, Emma McLean and Molly Riggi.
Norton will serve as the “C,” with Orr and Wall as “A’s.”
‘Fired up to play’
The Cardinals faced a brutal stretch of play to open the season, seeing both the No. 14 Norwich Cadets last Saturday and the No. 10 Cortland Red Dragons today. Both these matchups proved to be difficult last season.
“We tied and lost to Norwich last year, and we know what happened with Cortland. Everyone is fired up to play them, we want to beat those teams, especially after last year,” Lewis said. “Even the freshmen know how much of a rivalry those two teams are for us.”
After handling the Cadets 3-1 and flying up the rankings, the Cardinals now look to prove themselves again against the team that punched them in the mouth at the end of last season.
“(Cortland) is going to be a battle. They lost a lot of good players as did we. So we’ll prepare for them as we always would,” Houle said. “We’re obviously going in with the attitude of playing the best we can and coming out with a win.”
It is likely that one of these SUNYAC powerhouses is going to have to start their conference play with a loss, setting an important tone for the rest of the season. For the skaters, there’s almost nothing more exciting.
“I’m super excited. Norwich and Cortland are the two biggest rivals from my college career,” Olshansky said. “When playing teams like that, I know that I’m going into what’s gonna be a really fun, fast and hard game.”
Former Cardinal Julia Duquette left the coaching staff, and has been replaced with former teammate and national champion Emma Killeen.
The Cardinals play each SUNYAC team three times.
Plattsburgh will host the annual Panther/Cardinal Classic the last weekend of November, featuring Middlebury, St. Norbert and Endicott.
The Cards travel to play in the Norwich East-West Classic the first weekend of January 2025, competing against Nazareth, Norwich and Amherst.
Plattsburgh has two more non-conference games scheduled, playing Middlebury and Williams.
The strong competition will ramp the Cardinals up for their annual trip to the NCAA Tournament, having not reached the big game since 2019.
“We obviously strive for the national championship,” Norton said. “That’s always our number one goal.”
