Ali Vakos, Chelsea VanGlahn and Bridget Balisy combined for 11 points as the Plattsburgh State women’s hockey team defeated the Norwich Cadets, 9-2, to earn the Cardinals’ third national crown in front of a crowd of 1,619 at the Stafford Ice Arena Saturday night.
With the win, the Cardinals finish the season with a 28-1-1 record and claim their first title since 2008.
The game got off to a shaky start for Plattsburgh State as Norwich (27-4-0) jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 8:30 mark of the first period. Madyson Moore made a move around a Cardinal defender but when Plattsburgh State’s Sydney Aveson attempted to poke the puck away, it slid through the five-hole and into the net to give the Cadets the early lead.
The Cardinals quickly responded when Balisy ripped a shot from the right dot that flew high over Norwich goaltender Taylor Fairchild, tying the game at the 9:57 mark. From that point on, the Plattsburgh State offense was relentless. Freshman defender Julia Duquette got her second of the season on a shot from the left point that beat Fairchild through the five-hole with 6:47 left in the opening period to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
VanGlahn got the eventual game-winning goal at t he 15:31 mark, drilling home a rebound off a shot by Tyne Gove to make it 3-1, before Balisy picked up her second of the night on a bar-down goal to hand the Cardinals a three-goal lead going into the first intermission.
Jordan Caldwell registered the lone goal of the second, scoring on a rebound off of Allison Era’s shot from the point at the 8:11 mark to make it 5-1 in favor of the Cardinals.
With just 2:26 left in the third the floodgates opened as VanGlahn picked up her second of the night from Vakos. Jenny Kistner extended the lead to 6-1 at 6:58 before Caldwell found the back of the net again at 16:59 to make it a 7-1 game.
The Cadets never gave up with Haley Gibson tipping in her sixth of the year at 18:26 but the duo of Vakos and VanGlahn put the exclamation point on the win with 25 seconds left on the clock. The pair of senior linemates took off on a 2-on-1 break with VanGlahn making the pass to set up Vakos for her 13th of the season.
VanGlahn finished the night with two goals and two assists while Vakos had a goal and three assists. Balisy tallied two goals and one assist. Caldwell had a pair of goals and Kistner added a goal and an assist.
The Cardinals outshot the Cadets, 49-39. Plattsburgh State went 0-for-1 on the power play while Norwich was 0-for-5.
Aveson recorded 37 saves to finish her final season with a 22-1-1 record. The most decorated goaltender in Cardinals’ history went out with a bang setting new NCAA records in single-season save percentage (.971) and career victories (69) in her final game.
Fairchild suffered the loss for the Cadets, making 13 saves. Loren Carrier finished the night with 27 stops.
Aveson, Balisy, Era and VanGlahn represented Plattsburgh State on the NCAA All-Tournament Team. Brittany Sharman from Norwich and Chloe Kinsel from Wis.-River Falls rounded out the squad.
