Plattsburgh wins own tournament
Plattsburgh took its Cardinal Classic holiday tournament, giving up just one goal in the two games.
First, they disposed of Babson, 5-0, with Mathieu Cadieux and Josh Leis combining for the shutout. Cadieux made 20 saves in the first two periods, and Leis stopped all eight third period shots.
After a scoreless first period, the Cardinals scored four times in the middle stanza on goals by Alex Brenton, Kyle Taylor, Alex Jensen, and Nick Jensen. Matty MacLeod rounded out the scoring in the third period. Plattsburgh committed just one penalty in the game.
“I think both teams did a little feeling out, and we got a little bit of a slow start in the first period,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery told the Press Republican. “It took a while to get the rust off, but I thought we played pretty good after that.”
It was a bit tougher in the championship game, as Plattsburgh needed to come back to defeated Castleton, 2-1. Cadieux went the whole way, stopping 20 shots.
Again, the first period was scoreless. The Spartans took the lead at the 11:00 mark of the second period. Five-and-a-half minutes later, Taylor tied it up. Jack Mooney’s slap shot was the game-winner with 5:08 left in the third. This time, Plattsburgh took only three penalties.
“I thought we moved the puck well in the offensive zone,” Emery said. “Puck possession was real key for us in the offensive zone.”
Kyle Kudroch, Paul Puglisi, and Alex Jensen made the All Tournament team for Plattsburgh.
Interestingly, Castleton returns to Plattsburgh on Friday.
Other highlights
– Oswego cruised in the first game of its Pathfinder Bank Oswego Classic, beating Connecticut College, 5-1. Andrew Hare made 21 saves. Luke Moodie scored the first two goals and assisted on the third. The Lakers offense disappeared in the championship game, as they lost to Neumann, 3-0. It was the first time they were shutout since January 18, 2002. Oswego committed 12 penalties, giving up two power-play goals. Taylor Farris and Moodie made the All Tournament team.
– Four appears to be the favorite number for Potsdam entering 2012. The Bears tied both their games in the Middlebury Classic, 4-4. First, they needed to come from behind against Southern Maine. After the Huskies took an early 1-0 lead, Mike Arnold and Adam Place quickly reversed the score. Southern Maine tied it in the second then scored twice in the third to take a 4-2 lead. The Bears then scored twice 57 seconds apart starting at 17:15, with Place and Bill Tsekos doing the honors.
– On New Year’s Day, it was Potsdam that was unable to hold onto a two-goal lead, three times, against Skidmore. Trevor Cope and Sy Nutkevitch gave the Bears a 2-0 first period lead. After Skidmore scored, Cope scored again for a 3-1 lead. Skidmore got one back late in the second. Nick Avgerinos scored in the third for yet another two-goal lead for Potsdam. However, the Thoroughbreds scored twice, the later with an extra attacker 48 seconds before the regulation buzzer. Kevin McFarland had his work cut out for him, as he needed to make 56 saves. Skidmore and Potsdam play again on Friday in Potsdam.
