The Plattsburgh State women’s hockey team made a massive statement this weekend after defeating powerhouse Elmira two times in one weekend.
The Cardinals had a competitive first encounter with Elmira, as they beat them by a mere two goals. This is out of the ordinary for the dominant PSUC team. However, the dominance that the Cards have displayed throughout the season came through in their second match as they outscored Elmira by a whopping margin of six goals.
Efforts made by sophomore Melissa Sheeran helped PSUC make their mark not only on their biggest rival but also on their division as a whole.
Throughout the course of the weekend, Sheeran had three goals as well as three assists.
These superstar statistics awarded her player of the week for the second time in a row.
Although Sheeran was the individual star of this past weekend, the two wins were, without a doubt, a team effort. PSUC has been awaiting this weekend for quite sometime now as they still had a bad taste in their mouth from when Elmira came on the Cards’ home ice last year to sweep them in a two-game series.
“It was great to pick up the two wins this weekend,” senior Giovanna Senese said. “It was nice to give it back to them at their barn and be able to sweep them.”
Looking forward, this game could serve as a major confidence boost that the team needed heading into the future. After suffering a loss to Concordia University in the Theresa Humes tournament that took place over the winter recess, the team has not had the undefeated confidence that they are used to.
However, these two wins against the undoubtedly biggest rival in their conference should steer them back on track to being the being the mentally toughest team on the ice again.
“Elmira’s always the biggest weekend of the year for us,” junior forward Katelyn Turk said. “So when we come out of it with two wins, we know we’re capable of beating any team in the nation.”
Not only was this weekend beneficial in the moral of the team as a whole, but it also comes as no surprise that beating the best team in the conference also has a positive outcome in terms of what the standings look like and the confidence of the team moving forward.
As a result of the efforts of this past weekend, the Cards are now the number one seed in the gruesomely competitive ECAC West Division.
Head coach Kevin Houle has a tendency to focus on this outcome of the weekend as he is looking to have his team have a nice set up for the playoffs and contend for another championship.
“They are our league opponents,” Houle said. “So to go in and take two wins as well as four points from them is a great feeling, and more importantly, it sets us up for ECAC West playoffs.”
Those four points in the standings could be the difference between PSUC playing at home or on the road for the commencement of the playoffs. Regardless, those points aren’t going anywhere now. After this weekend, they are grounded in PSUC’s rankings.
Email Kevin Morley at kevin.morley@cardinalpointsonline.com
