GENEVA, N.Y. – (Plattsburgh Photo) – The No. 1 Plattsburgh State women’s ice hockey team finished off an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) West sweep of William Smith College on Sunday at the Cooler, as the Cardinals prevailed, 5-1.
After a scoreless first period, the Cardinals responded with three goals in the second. After Plattsburgh State extended the lead early in the third, William Smith got on the board with a marker 3:02 later on the power play. The Cardinals netted a score shorthanded midway through the third period to complete the 5-1 final.
Plattsburgh State rises to 2-0-0 overall (2-0-0 ECAC West) with the win and next visits Neumann University for a pair of ECAC West games from Friday-Saturday, Nov. 11-12. The puck drops against Neumann at 7 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday. William Smith drops to 2-2-0 overall (0-2-0 ECAC West) with the loss and next hosts Utica College in an ECAC West game on Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m.
Freshman Meghan Kraus (Fort Lewis, Wash./Northern Cyclones) put the Cardinals on the board at 3:39 of the second period, burying a shot off a feed from senior Jordan Lipson (Davis, Calif./Pomfret School). Less than three minutes later, senior Erin Brand (Long Beach, N.Y./Syracuse University) scored on the power play off of passes from junior Kayla Meneghin (Clifton, N.J./The Gunnery) and Lipson. With time winding down in the second period, Brand fed senior Melissa Ames (Rochester, N.Y./Pittsburgh Penguins Elite U-19), who found the back of the net to give Plattsburgh State a 3-0 advantage heading into the second intermission.
At 4:47 of the third period, Meneghin cashed in on a pass from junior Melissa Sheeran (Schagticoke, N.Y./Millbrook School) to extend the lead before William Smith’s sophomore Jordan Roetzer scored on the power play minutes later. Junior Rebecca Begley and sophomore Maura Mulligan were credited with assists on the play. Finally, sophomore Courtney Moriarty (Estero, Fla./Northfield Mt. Hermon) pushed the puck past the Heron goalie at 9:06 of the third period, using a pass from Brand.
Brand finished with three points off of one goal and two assists to go along with a +4 rating, while Meneghin tallied two points off a goal and an assist and Lipson registered two points off a pair of assists.
Plattsburgh State went 1-for-6 on the power play, while William Smith went 1-for-10 with the extra skater. The two teams combined for 17 penalties, all of which were two-minute minors. The Cardinals finished with a 47-27 margin in shots on goal over the Herons.
Senior goaltender Camille Leonard (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Jr. Hornets) turned aside 26 shots in between the pipes for Plattsburgh State, while junior goaltender Maggie Salmon made 42 saves in the loss for William Smith.
