OSWEGO, N.Y. – The No. 13 and second-seeded Plattsburgh State men’s ice hockey team beat No. 2 and top-seeded Oswego State, 3-2, to win the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championship title at the Marano Campus Center Arena on Saturday. The Cardinals, who claim the program’s 23rd SUNYAC title and first since 2015, improve to 17-9-1 on the season, while the Lakers go 21-5-1. Both team’s national rankings were according to the latest U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) and D3hockey.com polls.
Plattsburgh State secures an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, while Oswego State waits to see where it falls in the at-large mix. The full selection show airs online this Monday at 10:30 a.m. at http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2017/2804&date=2017/03/06.
All three of Plattsburgh State’s goals were scored by freshmen as Antoine Desnoyers (Quebec City, Quebec/Cegep de Saint Laurent), Joe Drabin (Rochester, N.Y./Wenatchee Wild) and Schuyler Seyfert (Marshfield, Wis./Ogden Mustangs) each found the back of the net. Six Cardinals had assists and the team logged 15 blocked shots. Senior Brady Rouleau (Fort Macleod, Alberta/Quinnipiac) collected 31 saves for the win. Desnoyers, Drabin, Rouleau and freshman Evan Lindquist (Amston, Conn./Ottawa Jr. Senators) were each named to the all-tournament team, with Rouleau grabbing most valuable player honors.
The Cardinals won on Oswego State’s ice for the second time in a month’s span after taking a 2-1 decision back on Feb. 4. Plattsburgh State’s senior class stretches its unbeaten streak at Oswego State to five games with a mark of 3-0-2. Head coach Bob Emery ups his career win total to 598 and is now two victories away from becoming the 12th men’s ice hockey head coach across all divisions to reach the 600-win plateau.
Oswego State seniors Shawn Hulshof and Kenny Neil both had one goal and one assist, while classmate Matt Galati provided two assists. Senior Matt Zawadski stopped 20 shots in net. Hulshof and senior defenseman Chris Raguseo were named to the all-tournament team.
Just like the teams’ last meeting in February, the opening period went scoreless. The Lakers led shots, 10-6, while killing off two Cardinal penalties. Plattsburgh State’s defense came up at 6:52 by denying two Oswego State shots as Rouleau stopped a shot before sophomore Jakob Engvall (Jonkoping, Sweden/Ogden Mustangs) blocked a Laker bid. Three minutes later, Rouleau slid left to right to snuff out a low-slot chance by Hulshof.
The Cardinals killed off two penalties in the second period before Seyfert buried the game’s opening goal at 9:07. After a rebound shot bounced off of a Laker defender’s stick, Seyfert grabbed the loose puck and ripped a snapshot into the upper right corner. Junior Ayrton Valente (Woodbridge, Ontario/Mississauga Chargers) crashed down the right side and backhanded a shot that was kicked out by Zawadski with 6:13 left in the stanza. Laker junior Devin Campbell nearly equalized with 2:48 to go but his left side wrister clanged off of the left post.
Plattsburgh State extended its lead to 2-0 just 2:37 into third period thanks to Drabin’s power-play goal. Lindquist’s shot bounced off of the end boards and right to Drabin, who was parked on the right post for a quick tap in. Oswego State, which led the SUNYAC with 49 third-period goals entering the night, was not about to let the stanza get too far away as Hulshof scored 1:10 later to trim the deficit in half with a power-play goal of his own. Desnoyers then provided a little breathing room at 8:01 after depositing a shot with help from senior Kyle Hall (Assiniboia, Saskatchewan/Battlefords North Stars). With Zawadski pulled, Neil redirected Hulshof’s shot to bring Oswego State to within a 3-2 score with 32 seconds remaining. The Lakers were unable to muster any more shots before time expired.
