It was a weekend for the birds, literally. When four of the top teams from the ECAC West and the NESCAC met in the Cardinal Classic this weekend, the teams residing west of Lake Champlain found themselves playing in the late game on Sunday. In the end, the host team found themselves on top, of not just the tourney, but of the nation.
The Plattsburgh State Cardinals skated to a 4-2 victory over three-time defending National Champions and former No. 1-ranked Middlebury, on Saturday, and followed that up with a 5-4 come-from-behind overtime victory against longtime nemesis Elmira.
Clash of the Titans
Saturday night, the Cardinals and the Panthers took the ice for their first of at least two meetings this season. The Panthers, who were playing in their first game of the season, had celebrated their third straight national title exactly eight months prior on that very ice. The Cardinals, who already had four games under their belt, stood at 4-0-0 on the season. They had a streak of 28 regular season home games without a loss on the line.
The big question going into the game was who would replace All-American Kate Kogut in net for the Panthers. The answer to that question turned out to be freshman Lani Wright, who quickly showed why she got the call to take on the defending national runners-up. In the first period, Wright stood strong, stopping all 12 shots she faced.
Once the second period began, it would not take long for the Cardinals to cash in. Just under two minutes into the period, freshman Laurie Bowler dropped the puck to sophomore Claire O’Conner behind the net. O’Connor then tapped a pass to fellow sophomore Lindsey Brown in front who backhanded a shot past Wright to give the Cardinals the 1-0 lead.
The Cardinals would sit on that lead until late in the period when Danielle Blanchard reminded the Panthers why she is an All-American. Blanchard stole the puck off of a Panther defender’s stick, hurdled past another Panther defender, deked out Wright causing her to go down, opening up the right side of the net where she found the back of the net for the shorthanded goal for the 2-0 lead.
The score would remain 2-0 until midway through the third period when sophomore Liz Hand dumped the puck into the Cardinal zone. The puck ricocheted off the back boards coming out in front of the net where Molly Vitt backhanded a shot over the shoulder of All-American Breanne Doyle and cut the lead in half.
The Cardinals answered right back when Blanchard took the puck over the blue line, dropped a pass back to freshman Lesley Ann Mitchell, who carried the puck toward the net and found sophomore Gina Kozar for a 3-1 Plattsburgh lead. Then, just 41 seconds later Shay Bywater intercepted a fanned shot attempt and hit Amber Ellis with a pass up the ice, sending Ellis all alone one-on-one with Wright. Ellis fired a shot off the post which hit off the back of Wright and trickled over the goal line, giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead and virtually ending all hope for a Panther comeback.
The Cardinals defeated the Panthers, extending their regular season home unbeaten streak to 29 games and improving to 5-0-0 on the season. Their attention turned to Elmira, who had defeated Williams earlier in the day 5-2.
A Rivalry Reborn
When Elmira faced Plattsburgh last season, they found themselves tacking on another loss after every game. As the Soaring Eagles headed into the Stafford Ice Arena on Sunday afternoon, they were hoping for a different result.
It would not take long for both teams to break open the scoring. Just 1:23 seconds into the game, Lesley Ann Mitchell beat Elmira goaltender Allison Cubberley with help from All-American Danielle Blanchard and defenseman Julie Devereux. The Soaring Eagles answered back just over two minutes later as Lauryn DePaul solved Breanne Doyle to knot the score at one.
The score remained tied until midway through the first period, when Laurie Bowler brought the puck into the Elmira zone on a three-on-two. Bowler centered it to Blanchard who produced yet again, this time roofing a shot just under the crossbar for a 2-1 Cardinal lead.
Like the first goal, Elmira had an answer. Less than two minutes later, Tiffany Hart sent a shot in from the blue line through a crowd to beat Doyle just inside the right post. Plattsburgh, however, refused to head into the intermission without a lead. Amber Ellis carried the puck down the sideboard and into the Elmira zone, lost control of the puck which was picked up by teammate Kayla McDougall. McDougall slid the puck forward to Ellis at the left face-off circle, slipped around a defender and fired a shot over the left shoulder of Cubberley, sending the Cardinals into the break with a 3-2 lead.
The second period saw considerably less scoring than the first with Melanie Henshaw accounting for the lone goal, tying up the game at three. The Cardinals and the Soaring Eagles, who carried the play for the first two periods, were locked into a 3-3 tie heading into the third period.
Despite a flurry of chances for Plattsburgh to take the lead throughout the period, the Soaring Eagles broke the tie when freshman Jenna McCall went five-hole on Doyle to give her team a 4-3 advantage with 8:02 remaining in the third.
“Jenna McCall was great,” said Elmira coach Paul Nemetz-Carlson. “The fact that she’s 4’11” is the only reason she is at Elmira College.”
As the clock ticked down, Plattsburgh coach Kevin Houle called a timeout with 1:54 to go. During that timeout he told his players to get the pucks to the net.
“We just need to get control of the puck and make plays,” said Houle. “Get your head up and make a play and get pucks to the net.”
His players responded. With 43.9 seconds remaining in regulation. Lindsey Brown fired a shot on net. Mitchell swiped the rebound and found Blanchard, yet again in front of the net, as she placed a shot over the right shoulder of Cubberley, sending the Cardinal bench into a frenzy.
At that time, Nemetz-Carlson decided to take his timeout and told his team to try and win the face-off and see what happens. “We tried to make a quick transition on the face-off and win the game,” said Nemetz-Carlson.
Elmira however failed to score, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, Elmira’s Kayla Coady got the first good opportunity to send her team home with a victory.
“That’s whose stick you want the puck on,” said Nemetz-Carlson.
Coady broke in all alone on Doyle but was denied as Doyle deflected the shot wide. On the ensuing rush up the ice, the Cardinals swarmed the net. Lindsey Brown found the puck on her stick and saw an open Claire O’Connor to the left of Cubberley with an open net to aim for. Brown’s pass traveled slowly across the mouth of the goal crease to the tape of O’Connor’s stick. O’Conner, 1:23 into overtime, guided the puck across the goal line, creating a bench clearing celebration from her teammates and a disappointing loss for the Soaring Eagles.
After the game, both coaches offered their thoughts on the previous 61 minutes and 23 seconds. “These are two good hockey teams,” said Houle. “I thought they carried the play for the first two periods.”
“Fantastic, what a great hockey game,” said Nemetz-Carlson. “The excitement is back in this rivalry.”
Nemetz-Carlson spoke to his team after the game. “Welcome to the big time. This is what competing for championships is all about,” he said. “We walked out of this rink with a little bit more respect than when we came here. We are searching for an identity and today I think we established it.”
The big story of the weekend though was the performance of Danielle Blanchard. “She’s obviously a talented player and she comes to play everyday,” said Houle.
