PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.—No. 3 SUNY Plattsburgh (7-2, 5-0 NEWHL) shutout the SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (5-3-1, 1-3-1 NEWHL) 8-0 Friday night. Freshman forward Annie Katonka (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Pens Elite) scored a hat trick on the day.
Plattsburgh won a faceoff in the offensive zone early, that led to junior forward Courtney Moriarty (Estero, Fla./Northfield Mount Hermon) putting the Cardinals on the board within the first four minutes. The Bears tried to tie the game up throughout the first, but were unable to solve junior goalie Kassi Abbott (North Billerica, Mass./Boston Shamrocks Elite). With the first period winding down, Plattsburgh scored their second goal on a power play by Katonka to take the 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
The Cardinals kept the pressure going early in the second, scoring two in the first five minutes. Senior Melissa Sheeran (Schaghticoke, N.Y./Millbrook School) and junior Mackenzie Millen (Anchorage, Alaska/North American Hockey Academy) scored the goals, respectively. Potsdam got four shots on goal, two by junior forward Jenna Patterson (Boissevain, Manitoba/Westman Wildcats). Plattsburgh closed out the scoring in the second with a short-handed goal by Sheeran at 13:10 for the 5-0 lead.
Millen and Katonka tacked on three more goals, in the first six minutes of the third, increasing their lead to 8-0. Freshman defenseman Emily Burke (San Jose, Calif./San Jose Jr. Sharks) and senior captain Anna-Rose Bertin (Marathon, Ontario/CIH Academy) took the last six of seven shots for Potsdam, but none reached the back of the net.
Sophomore Alexa Pfeiffer (Sylvania, Ohio/Little Caesar’s) saved 31 shots while sophomore Kayla McCabe (Watertown, N.Y./Syracuse Nationals) stopped 14 shots when she entered at the start of the third stanza. Abbott saved all 22 shots for her fourth shutout of the season.
The Bears are back in action tomorrow as they host the Cardinals at 3 p.m. in the Maxcy Ice Arena.
