PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men’s ice hockey team notched a decisive win over Skidmore College in an exhibition game on Saturday evening at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena, as the Cardinals topped the Thoroughbreds, 5-1. It marked Plattsburgh State’s first action in 2017-18 after just a week of practice.
While the shot margin slightly favored Plattsburgh State at 34-29, the Cardinals’ special teams wound up being the difference. The Cardinal penalty kill unit killed off all five Thoroughbred power-play opportunities, and to boot, Plattsburgh State netted a shorthanded goal. The Cardinals’ power-play unit, meanwhile, scored a goal in nine chances with the extra skater.
Plattsburgh State plays its final exhibition game of the season on Friday, Oct. 27, as the Cardinals host Cégep André-Laurendeau at 7 p.m. Skidmore hosts Nichols College in its regular-season opener on Friday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m.
Junior forward Cam Owens (Wilmington, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) scored shorthanded just 1:54 into the game, using his speed to split a pair of Thoroughbred defenders before going top shelf. Sophomore forward Joe Drabin (Rochester, N.Y./Wenatchee Wild) and senior defender Ayrton Valente (Woodbridge, Ontario/Mississauga Chargers) were credited with assists on the goal. Junior forward Pat Egan (Rochester, N.Y./Lone Star Brahmas) potted the eventual game-winner midway through the first period, finding the back of the net on a tight angle along the goal line at the bottom of the left face-off circle. Freshman forward Rich McCartney (Hershey, Pa./Philadelphia Revolution) passed the puck to sophomore forward Antoine Desnoyers (Quebec City, Quebec/Cégep de Saint-Laurent) as he was coming off the ice for a shift change, and Desnoyers had a shot blocked before Egan picked up the rebound and scored from a seemingly impossible angle.
Junior forward Ross Sloan (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades) scored unassisted 3:36 into the second period, while freshman forward Liam Lawson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Powell River Paper Kings) and Drabin assisted on a power-play goal scored by senior forward Matt Quilty (Midland, Ontario/Caledonia Corvairs) less than a minute later. Finally, midway through the second, freshman forward Mike Falanga (East Haven, Conn./Islanders Hockey Club) tallied on a feed from Drabin to hand the Cardinals a commanding 5-0 advantage.
In an otherwise uneventful third period, sophomore defenseman Chris Javens put Skidmore on the board midway through the period, as he saw his shot saved before the puck slowly trickled past the goal line and into the back of the net. Freshman forward Brandon Borges earned the assist on the marker.
Plattsburgh State used all three of its goaltenders in the win, with freshman Jimmy Poreda (Tonawanda, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) making nine saves in the first period, freshman Lawson Fenton (Medina, N.Y./Coquitlam Express) stopping 11 shots in the second period and sophomore Keller Kowalowski (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) posting eight saves in the third period. Sophomore goaltender Brandon Kasel sustained the loss for Skidmore, making 29 stops during the contest.
