No. 2 Cardinals down Bears in ECAC West opener
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (0-3, 0-1 ECAC
West) led 1-0 at second-ranked Plattsburgh State (4-0-1, 3-0) after one
period, but the Cardinals answered for an 8-1 victory on Tuesday night.
Freshman forward Kakia Ashley (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam Ice Storm) scored for
the Bears and senior goalie Jen Conophy finished with 32 saves.
Potsdam held its own in the first period until Ashley got them on the
board at the 13:33 mark. Senior defenseman Nadine Cunningham (Bow,
N.H./St. Mark’s Prep) and freshman defenseman Kristen Domanski (Brooklin,
Ontario/Barrie Sharks) recorded the assists. Conophy stopped all 13 shots
she faced in the opening 20 minutes.
Plattsburgh awoke in the second period with a four-goal burst. Emma
Rutherford scored just three minutes into the middle stanza to tie the
score. Jordan Caldwell scored the eventual game-winner just 46 seconds
later. At the 6:17 mark, Teal Gove made it 3-1 and Caitlin Gilligan closed
the second period scoring at 12:24.
It was more of the same in the third period as Rutherford and Gove struck
for their second tallies in the first six minutes to build a 6-1 Cardinal
lead. Breanne Bennett scored at 10:44 and Melissa McIver netted the final
marker with just three seconds left.
Sydney Aveson made 19 saves to earn the victory. Plattsburgh outshot
Potsdam 40-20. The Cardinals were 0-1 on the power play and Potsdam was
0-2.
