NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Sophomore forward Meghan Kraus (Bellingham, Wash./Northern Cyclones) scored twice, as the No. 3/3 Plattsburgh State women’s ice hockey team avenged its loss from earlier in the season to Norwich University by downing the No. 1/1 Cadets, 3-2, in the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic opener on Sunday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena. It marked the first loss of the season for Norwich.
Back on Nov. 8, the Cadets snapped the Cardinals’ 26-game unbeaten streak by defeating Plattsburgh State, 4-3, at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 3 in both the USCHO.com Women’s Division III Top-10 Poll and the D3hockey.com Women’s Top-10 Poll. Norwich is ranked at No. 1 in both the USCHO.com Women’s Division III Top-10 Poll and the D3hockey.com Women’s Top-10 Poll.
The stat sheet panned out relatively evenly, with Plattsburgh State outshooting Norwich, 26-21. The Cadets went 2-for-6 on the power play, while the Cardinals were 1-for-6 with the extra attacker. Norwich was superior on the draw, going 35-for-55 on face-offs.
Plattsburgh State rises to 10-2-0 overall with the win and will face either No. 2/2 Elmira College or No. 4/4 Adrian College in the East-West Hockey Classic championship tomorrow at 4 p.m. Norwich drops to 11-1-1 overall with the loss and will compete in the consolation game at 1 p.m.
The Cardinals opened scoring 1:10 into the game, as Kraus scored unassisted. Kraus intercepted a pass by a Norwich defenseman in the Cadets’ defensive zone and corralled the puck in the high slot. Kraus then dangled the puck in front of the goalie before scoring glove side to give Plattsburgh State an early 1-0 lead.
Midway through the second period, the Cardinals added insurance by scoring on the power play. Junior forward Courtney Moriarty (Estero, Fla./Northfield Mount Hermon) won an offensive zone face-off and got the puck to senior forward Kayla Meneghin (Clifton, N.J./The Gunnery), who passed to junior defenseman Baye Flanagan (Billerica, Mass./Merrimack College). Flanagan passed D-to-D along the blue line to sophomore defenseman Hannah Kiraly (Glendale, Ariz./Northern Cyclones), and Kiraly fed it right back to Flanagan. Flanagan then took a shot from the blue line that beat the Norwich goalie glove side to put Plattsburgh State up 2-0 with 8:04 elapsed in the second. Flanagan’s goal was her first in a Cardinal sweater, as the NCAA Division I transfer from Merrimack College suited up for Plattsburgh State for the first time on Sunday.
Kraus scored what was eventually the game-winning goal 9:22 into the third period to hand the Cardinals a 3-0 edge. Sheeran stole the puck along the right boards and got the puck to Kraus, who beat the goalie blocker slide in the low slot. That assist upped Sheeran’s NCAA Division III lead in assists to 17.
Norwich erased the shutout bid with 11:02 gone in the third period when sophomore forward Amanda Conway scored on the power play. Sophomore forward Sophie McGovern took a shot that was blocked, and after the puck went straight up in the air, she knocked it to Conway, who scored from the low slot. Junior forward Bryn Labbe also assisted on the goal.
The Cadets trimmed the gap to one goal with just 3:01 remaining in regulation, as freshman defenseman Samantha Benoit scored on a 5-on-3 power play in traffic in front of the goal. Sophomore forward Alyssa Hulst and senior forward Sarah Schwenzfeier earned assists on the play.
Plattsburgh State took a timeout following Norwich’s second goal and allowed just one shot on goal from that point forward to emerge victorious.
Junior goaltender Kassi Abbott (North Billerica, Mass./Boston Shamrocks Elite) finished with 19 saves in the win for the Cardinals, while senior goaltender Laurie King turned aside 23 shots in the loss for the Cadets.
