MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Plattsburgh State men’s ice hockey team won its sixth PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut title in the 20-year history of the tournament on Saturday evening, defeating Lawrence University 4-2 in the championship game at Middlebury College’s Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena.
The Cardinals also won the PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut title in 1999, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2015. This marks Plattsburgh State’s first PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut championship at Middlebury, as the Cardinals have won the title four times at home and once at Norwich University.
Junior forward Cam Owens (Wilmington, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) was named the Tournament MVP, as he had two goals and four assists across the Cardinals’ two games at the event. Freshman goaltender Lawson Fenton (Medina, N.Y./Coquitlam Express) was named the Most Outstanding Rookie, while senior defenseman Ayrton Valente (Woodbridge, Ontario/Mississauga Chargers) earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
Plattsburgh State levels its record at 4-4-0 overall with the victory and resumes State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play on Friday, Dec. 1, at Buffalo State for a 7 p.m. puck drop. Lawrence drops to 3-5-0 overall with the loss and next hosts St. Norbert College on Friday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m.
The Cardinals fired the opening salvo 7:23 into the first period on the power play, as junior forward Pat Egan (Rochester, N.Y./Lone Star Brahmas) found twine for the second time in the tournament. Valente and sophomore forward Antoine Desnoyers (Quebec City, Quebec/Cégep de Saint-Laurent) pinged two quick passes before Egan took a wrist shot from the right face-off circle that went over the Viking netminder’s blocker.
Owens gave Plattsburgh State a 2-0 lead just 34 seconds later. Junior forward Ross Sloan (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades) passed to freshman defenseman Tom Bowe (Homer, Alaska/Aspen Leafs), who took a shot that was saved before collecting his own rebound inside the left face-off circle. He slid the puck to Owens in the slot, and Owens ripped a shot that clanged off the inside of the right pipe and went into the goal. It marked the first career point for Bowe, who was credited with an assist.
The Cardinals extended their lead with 11:34 gone in the first period on the power play, as Owens sent a pass to junior forward Cole Stallard (Atlanta, Ga./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) inside the left face-off circle that Stallard one-timed past the Viking goalie glove side.
After a scoreless second period, Lawrence countered with a goal 3:14 into the third. Senior defenseman Austin Frank caught a puck in the air in the Vikings’ defensive zone and drove the length of the ice before scoring blocker side.
Plattsburgh State added insurance 1:55 later, as sophomore forward Noah Batis (Martinsville, Ind./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) found the back of the net. Egan took a shot that was saved before Batis knocked the puck in from the right post. Owens also earned an assist on the goal, his team-leading 11th of the season.
Lawrence inched closer by scoring with the extra attacker with 1:10 left in regulation, as junior forward Josh Koepplinger won an offensive-zone face-off that senior forward Lane King one-timed into the net from the point. The deficit wound up being too large to overcome at that point, however, and despite two more Viking shots on goal in the waning moments of the game, the Cardinals came away with the victory.
Plattsburgh State finished with a slight 31-28 edge in shots, while the Cardinals went 2-for-5 on the power play. The Cardinal penalty-kill unit had just one opportunity and made the most of it, killing off Plattsburgh State’s lone penalty of the game with 12:16 elapsed in the second period.
Fenton made 26 saves in the victory for Plattsburgh State, while sophomore goaltender Evan Cline turned aside 27 shots in the loss for Lawrence.
Plattsburgh State defeated defending NCAA Division III national champion and nationally-ranked No. 6/7 Norwich 4-1 on the opening day of the PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut Friday to advance to the championship game.
