FREDONIA, N.Y. — The No. 5 Plattsburgh State men’s ice hockey team beat the Fredonia Blue Devils, 4-2, on Saturday at the Steele Hall Arena to split its State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) season-opening weekend in western New York. Plattsburgh State moves to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in the SUNYAC, while the Blue Devils are 2-2-1 and 2-1-1. Plattsburgh State’s national ranking was according to this week’s U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III poll.
Plattsburgh State freshman Noah Batis (Martinsville, Ind./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) scored the first two goals of his career while making his collegiate debut, with sophomore Cole Stallard (Waleska, Ga./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) and freshman Antoine Desnoyers (Quebec City, Quebec/Cégep de Saint-Laurent) both netting one goal. The Cardinals had seven skaters record an assist, including sophomore Cam Owens (Wilmington, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club), who went 10-for-16 on faceoffs. Freshman Joshua Davis (Guelph, Ontario/Brooks Bandits) collected 34 saves in his collegiate debut for the win.
Fredonia senior Marcus Ortiz scored both of his team’s goals and sophomore Jimmy Morgan provided two assists. Freshman Tommy DeFelice won 15 draws and sophomore Eric Bogart stopped 37 shots in net.
Plattsburgh State registered two goals on 16 first-period shots. Desnoyers opened the scoring at 4:46 with help from senior Kyle Hall (Assiniboia, Saskatchewan/Battlefords North Stars) and freshman Joe Drabin (Rochester, N.Y./Wenatchee Wild). Stallard added to the Cardinals’ lead with a 13:09 marker with freshmen Philip Middleton (Vail, Colo./Topeka Roadrunners) and Gavin Yates (Plymouth, Mass./South Shore Kings) assisting. Fredonia then cut the deficit to one as Ortiz chipped in a power-play goal with 48 seconds remaining in the opening period.
With the visitors holding a 2-1 lead, Batis broke out with a pair of goals in a 7:46 span in the second stanza. His first goal at 4:18 was aided by Owens and junior Brandon O’Quinn (Belleville, Ontario/Kingston Voyageurs). Batis’ second tally then came off a rebound from sophomore Ryan Chiasson’s (Henderson, Nev./Wenatchee Wild) shot.
In the third period, Ortiz potted his second power-play goal of the game at 8:39 to pull the hosts to within two. Just past midway through the period, Davies turned away a trio of Fredonia shots, denying junior Jamie Young twice in the process. The Blue Devils pulled Bogart with 2:55 remaining but the hosts managed just one shot on net despite having the extra attacker.
Plattsburgh State returns home next weekend to host a pair of conference contests, beginning with SUNY Cortland at 7 p.m.
