Women’s Hockey Wins another one

Liam Sample

The Plattsburgh women’s hockey team continued their overpowering ways this week, picking up two wins and bringing their record to 3-0. They also continue their home winning streak, bringing the total up to 42 straight. 

The first win came at home on Nov. 10  in a non-conference nationally ranked matchup; with Plattsburgh being No.1 and taking on The No.7 Team in the nation, The Norwich University Cadets. This game saw high expectations from fans and drew a crowd of 545 fans to Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.

The start was surprising for the home crowd as Norwich struck first. Sophomore forward Ally Lague took a quick shot from the right crease into the top left of the net for her first of the season just 1:37 into the game. The period ended with a 1-0 deficit for The Cardinals, despite outshooting the opposition 10-7.

Plattsburgh came out with vengeance in the second period. Just 4:50 in, first year defender5 Mattie Norton put a wrist shot into a group of players, after a bounce, the puck found the back of the net. This came on the powerplay and was her first collegiate goal, tying the game at one. Senior Sara Krauseneck and graduate student Erin McArdle recorded assists.

During a line change, senior forward Nicole Unsworth found some open ice. After skating towards the net, she made a nifty move and backhanded the puck into the net for her second of the year. Senior Emma Killeen assisted the goal. This came at the 10:37 mark of the period and made the score 2-1.

After taking the lead, Plattsburgh never looked back. Just over six minutes later, junior forward Ivy Boric made a pass to graduate student forward Annie Katonka. She took the puck from the Plattsburgh zone all the way to the front of the net, where she ripped a wrist shot over the glove of the goaltender. Boric and Norton both received assists on the goal. 

With under nine minutes remaining in the third, Norton tallied her second goal of the game. Boric sent her the puck just in front of the blue line; after taking advantage of open ice, she took a long wrister that went top shelf. This one also came on the powerplay.

Senior Goaltender Ashley Davis made twenty saves and brings her win total up to two for this year. 

Powered by Norton’s three point performance and four unanswered goals, Plattsburgh took down their seeded opponent 4-0. Overall, The offense came to play, with seven players recording points and the team outshooting The Cadets 41-21. Norwich recorded their first loss this year and moved to a 2-1-0 record on the season. 

On Nov. 12, The Cardinals traveled to Buffalo to take on The Buffalo State Bengals in a Northeastern Women’s Hockey League game. They hoped to carry the momentum from the last game and looked for their second conference win. 

This game was a full team effort from the Cardinals and ended with domination on the scoresheet.

In the first period, Katonka and Krauseneck both scored under four minutes apart, and picked up assists on each other’s goal. Boric was also credited with an assist on the first Katonka score.

These two goals set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Cardinals went on to score five more. The second period saw three of these with the remaining two coming in the third. 

First year forwards Lily Stumm and Tes Hurd scored their first of their collegiate careers; Krauseneck tallied one more and Boric scored two to make the final score 7-0. 

Plattsburgh recorded a season high seventy two shots, compared to the Bengals sixteen. Nine different Cardinals had points in this game, and Boric had four herself. This loss brings Buffalo State to 0-4-0 on the season.

In this game, Junior goaltender Lilla Nease got her first start of the year, She stopped every shot she faced and helped Plattsburgh get their first shutout in the 2021-2022 campaign. 

The Cardinals end this stretch 3-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 in conference play. They totaled an incredible eleven goals and 113 shots through both games.