PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – In its first game in more than a month at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena, the Plattsburgh State men’s ice hockey team pulled off a come-from-behind win in front of its home crowd, scoring three goals across the second and third periods to defeat SUNY Cortland 3-1 in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest Friday evening.
The Cardinals finished with a 29-21 edge in shots on goal, including a 15-3 margin in the second period. Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play. Plattsburgh State was superior on the draw, winning 39-of-68 face-offs.
Plattsburgh State rises to 5-6-0 overall (3-5-0 SUNYAC) with the win and hosts rival No. 4/4 Oswego State tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. Cortland drops to 4-8-0 overall (2-6-0 SUNYAC) with the loss and visits SUNY Potsdam tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Cortland opened scoring with just 3.2 seconds left in the first period. Senior forward Tommy Nolan cleared the puck out of the Red Dragons’ defensive zone up to freshman forward Scott Donahue, who received it along the boards behind the goal in their offensive end. Donahue skated out along the right boards and whipped a centering pass to freshman forward Alex Storjohann, who evaded two Cardinals and scored a goal blocker side while diving forward.
The Cardinals leveled the tally with 8:34 gone in the second period, as sophomore defenseman Philip Middleton (Vail, Colo./Salmon Arm Silverbacks) scored his second goal of the season. Junior forward Jesse Neher (Calgary, Alberta/Cowichen Valley Capitals) fed freshman forward Greg Malafronte (Colts Neck, N.J./New Jersey Titans) in transition, and Malafronte forced senior goaltender Drew Weigman to make a save. While Weigman made the stop, a loose puck trickled from between his pads and ended up to the left of goal. A scramble ensued, but Middleton poked the puck across the goal line to knot the score at 1-all. Malafronte’s assist was the first point of his collegiate career.
Unselfish play by junior forward Cam Owens (Wilmington, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) and freshman forward Rich McCartney (Hershey, Pa./Philadelphia Revolution) allowed Plattsburgh State to seize a 2-1 lead 22 seconds into the third period. Senior defenseman Ayrton Valente (Woodbridge, Ontario/Mississauga Chargers) passed the puck to Owens, and Owens and McCartney skated in tandem up the ice. Owens slid the puck to McCartney inside the right face-off circle, and McCartney, the team’s leading goal scorer, opted to feed it right back to Owens, who cashed in from the low slot.
Plattsburgh State added insurance with 16:12 elapsed in the third period. Middleton sent a pass to sophomore forward Noah Batis (Martinsville, Ind./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) from the Cardinals’ defensive blue line, and Batis eventually dropped the puck off to freshman forward Mike Falanga (East Haven, Conn./Islanders Hockey Club) at the top of right face-off circle. Falanga went top shelf with a wrist shot to score his second goal of the year in his first game back since Nov. 10.
Cortland pulled its goalie on the power play with 36 seconds left, but it was unable to put a shot on goal as Plattsburgh State held on for the win.
Freshman goaltender Jimmy Poreda (Tonawanda, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) earned the win in goal for the Cardinals, making 20 saves, while his counterpart, Weigman, turned aside 26 shots in the loss for the Red Dragons.
