The Plattsburgh Cardinals are the 2010-11 SUNYAC champions, beating Fredonia, 4-1. Plattsburgh never allowed the Blue Devils a glimmer of hope for another playoff upset.
Plattsburgh outshot Fredonia in the first, 13-4, and the second, 12-6. Only in the third period, when Plattsburgh was preserving the lead and Fredonia was getting desperate, did the Blue Devils outshoot Plattsburgh, 11-10. Josh Leis made 20 saves for the win while Mark Friesen stopped 31 shots.
The game was put away in the latter part of the second period when Plattsburgh scored twice within 1:06 to open a 4-0 lead.
Ryan Farnan banged in a rebound at 14:14 after Kyle Taylor’s initial shot was saved. The final goal for the home team was perfectly executed. Cody Adams, from the right point, passed it to Barry Roytman on the left point. Roytman fired a slap shot which Dylan Clarke, while having a defender draped on his back, deflected from the slot just enough to elude Friesen.
Fredonia pulled their goalie with 2:09 left in the game to try and salvage something. They succeeded at breaking the shutout with 1:22 left. They brought the puck into the zone quickly down the left side before losing control of it. However, the loose puck wound up in the slot, where Ben Waldman quickly wristed a shot over Leis’ glove for the final score of the game.
Plattsburgh got things started with a power-play score at 15:15 of the first on an Eric Satim slap shot from the right side. Adams make it 2-0 with 18.7 seconds left in the period. From the top of the left circle, he one-timed a pass from Patrick Jobb.
Fredonia came out strong in the second period, but Plattsburgh’s two quick goals squashed any comeback hopes.
Leis was rightfully named the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player. He said after the game on Primelink’s live videocast, “The team played great tonight and that’s what we needed to do to win. My team kept a lot of shots from the outside. Made it really easy for me.”
Three of Leis’ teammates joined him on the All Tournament team — Ryan Craig(F), Eric Satim(F), and Cody Adams(D). Two Fredonia players made it — Ben Waldman(F) and Steve Rizer(D).
Plattsburgh (20-7-1) gets the automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament. If they play in the play-in round, they will most likely get to host a game. They await to see when and who they face.
Oswego is a lock for an at-large bid as well as a home playoff game next Saturday.
Fredonia’s season ends at 14-13-1.
