Courtesy Plattsburgh and Norwich Sports Information
NORTHFIELD – The No. 2 ranked Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team traveled to Norwich for the annual PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut tournament in rematch of last year’s consolation game against Middlebury. The Cardinals would top the Panthers 5-4 in an up and down affair.
The Panthers would strike a mere 39 seconds in to capture a 1-0 lead. Jake Charles would take a shot from the slot before collecting his own rebound and stuffing it past Cardinals goaltender Brady Rouleau.
Plattsburgh State would draw even four minutes later. Freshman Nick Belger roofed one from the hash marks over the glove of Panthers goalie Stephen Klein.
Two minutes later, Middlebury would make 2-1 on a Matt Doherty goal. Doherty positioned himself on the left dot receiving a pass from Evan Neugold before beating Rouleau low far post.
After the second goal Rouleau would give way to senior goalie, Spencer Finney.
Two more freshmen would tally the next pair of goals for the Cardinals in a 2:15 span to give Plattsburgh State its first lead of the evening.
Jesse Neher would carry the puck from behind the net on his backhand before carrying it to the front and lifting one over Klein.
Cole Stallard would pick up where he left off from his hat trick performance last week by beating Klein over the glove with a rip from the slot to give the Cardinals a 3-2 advantage.
The second period would be a little quieter as the Cardinals lone strike to make it 4-2 would be the only tally.
Luke Baleshta would get the first of his senior campaign knocking in a rebound on the doorstep of the crease.
Middlebury would claw back in the third period to tie the game at 4-4. Evan Neugold would convert a power play goal with a wrister from the high slot, beating Finney glove high for Middlebury’s third goal of the game.
Vincent Gisonti struck the equalizer for the Panthers on a scrum in front of the net, knocking it past a sprawled out Finney.
The Cardinals Matt Quilty corralled a drop pass from Cam Owens in the left circle sending a shot low far post past Klein for the game-winner.
After coming on in relief Finney finished with 20 saves on 22 shots. Klein wrapped up with 30 saves as the Cardinals outshot the Panthers 35-28.
Plattsburgh State finished 0-2 on the man up advantage while Middlebury converted on its only power play opportunity.
The Cardinals remain unbeaten and move to 7-0-0. They will play Norwich in the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m.
NORTHFIELD – The Norwich University men’s ice hockey team defeated Conn. College 3-0 in the opening round of the 18th annual PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut on Friday night at Kreitzberg Arena.
Sophomore forward Kevin Salvucci (Plymouth, Mass.) scored twice, while freshman defenseman Dave Robertson (Boissevain, Manitoba) scored his first collegiate goal to lead the Cadets’ offense in the victory.
Sophomore goalie Braeden Ostepchuk (Lethbridge, Alberta) made 18 saves for Norwich (7-1-0, 5-1-0 NEHC) to pick up his fourth victory and second shutout of the season.
NU will face No. 2-ranked Plattsburgh State in the 2015 PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. Plattsburgh defeated Middlebury 5-4 in a thriller in the opener on Friday afternoon. The Cadets will be looking for their record ninth ShootOut title and first since 2012, while Plattsburgh will be looking to claim its fifth and first since 2013.
Despite a dominant 16-6 shots on goal advantage in the first period, Norwich was unable to get a puck past Conn. College goalie Tom Conlin in the opening frame.
However, things quickly turned around in the second period with Salvucci netting his sixth of the season at 2:52 on a backhand in the middle of the slot of an assist from Paul Russell (Andover, Mass.).
With a Conn. College defenseman draped on him, Salvucci turned to his right in the slot and whipped a backhander off the left post and into the back of the net to finally solve Conlin and make it 1-0 Norwich.
Salvucci struck again for his seventh tally of the season at the 8:30 mark of the second period, banging home a rebound after an initial shot from sophomore defenseman Connor Evangelista (Middletown, Mass.) caught Conlin in the chest. Junior co-captain Tyler Piacentini (South Weymouth, Mass.) also picked up a secondary assist on the goal.
Robertson put the exclamation point on the middle stanza, wristing home his first collegiate goal from the high slot after a tremendous individual effort by Piacentini to get him the puck. Piacentini won a draw forward and then chased the puck down behind the Conn. College net, beating a defender and sliding the puck back out to the point to Robertson. Robertson corralled the pass and then beat Conlin high to the right side of the net to make it 3-0 Norwich and cap the three-goal second period.
Neither side added to the scoreboard in the third period, leaving Norwich as the 3-0 victor and a spot in the title game.
Norwich outshot Conn. College 37-18. Conlin made 34 saves to fall to 0-2-1 on the season. Conn. College meets Middlebury at 4 p.m. in Saturday’s consolation game with the battle of top-10 ranked teams to follow at 7 p.m.