By Michael Purtell
Talent across NCAA Division III women’s hockey is growing. The proof? The Plattsburgh State Cardinals lost its conference opener for the first time in its existence.
Plattsburgh State’s (1-1-0) conference rivalry with Cortland (3-0-0) grows more and more with every game. The most recent chapter — an 0-2 away loss to the Red Dragons on Nov. 8. The loss is the team’s third in a row to the Red Dragons, including last season’s SUNYAC Championship match.
“I just know I want to beat them every single time,” sophomore goaltender Chloe Lewis said.
THE GAME
High level hockey was guaranteed.
The Cardinals entered the game as the third-best team in DIII hockey, according to the coaches’ poll published by the United States College Hockey Association. The Red Dragons are the highest-ranked conference opponent on Plattsburgh’s schedule this season, ranked 10th.
The teams kept pace with each other offensively, with the Cardinals putting up 28 shots to the Red Dragons’ 29.
A key difference between each team’s shot diet was timeliness. Cortland came out of the gates swinging, putting 10 shots on the Plattsburgh nets in the first third of the match — including the game winning goal — while Plattsburgh only got off four.
Coming off of a strong win against No. 14 Norwich and a long ride to Cortland, the team was sluggish to open the game.
“I think coming from Norwich we were a little too loose,” Lewis said. “That can’t happen again.”
The team was revitalized for the rest of the game, getting 12 shots off in both of the final two thirds. None were able to make it past last season’s SUNYAC Goaltender of the Year, Molly Goergen.
Goergen is an emblem of Cortland’s success as a program, and was the Cardinals’ biggest obstacle in the match. She had 28 saves in the shut-out.
“They have a great goalie. Obviously, it’s never fun to say that about an opposing team, but you give credit where credit’s due,” senior defenseman Mattie Norton said.
Norton would know as well as anyone, as she was tied for the most shots in the game by a Cardinal with four. First-year defender Yoo Seoyung and forward Kayson Reugge recorded four each as well.
The Cardinals struggled to screen the goalie as effectively as they had against Norwich, Lewis said. This makes it hard to control rebounds or develop higher quality shots, a critical difference in helping the offense flow smoothly. It’s one of the many lessons Plattsburgh took away from the match.
THE RESPONSE
For a program that has lost only four conference matches over the last three seasons, a loss is never routine, but just like any other team, one loss does not mean the season is over.
“Obviously, we have a lot to learn from that game, and we can’t take it lightly, but we also have to focus on the games coming up,” Lewis said.
The loss has inspired more passion than sorrow, Lewis said, pushing the team and especially the freshmen to “buy into Plattsburgh State hockey” on a deeper level.
The captains — Norton, Ciara Wall and Bridget Orr — have been encouraging that mindset.
“Our message has been that when it happens, we want to feel that loss. We want to feel the frustration, the anger, the pain from it,” Norton said. “Then we need to come together and feel it as a team.”
The team’s vigor has two main targets: next weekend’s two-game road trip to Potsdam and Osewgo and the late January rematch against Cortland.
“That was a great hockey team that we lost to, and hopefully next time we’re going to get them back for it,” Norton said.
First, the Cardinals are focused on securing their first SUNYAC win of the season. Plattsburgh’s next two opponents are not easy-pickings.
The Potsdam Bears will be first on the schedule, and Norton said she expects them to “give a full 60 minutes on the gas pedal.” The game will begin in Potsdam today at 6 p.m.
Tomorrow, Plattsburgh will travel to Oswego to take on the Lakers at 3 p.m. The game will be another shot at revenge for the Cardinals, as Oswego was the only other SUNYAC team to defeat Plattsburgh last season.
“Coach (Kevin Houle) has been saying we’ll let them worry about us — we’re not going to worry about them,” Norton said. “We’ll take our game to them.”
