ELMIRA, N.Y. – In a clash of the top two teams in Division III women’s ice hockey, the No. 1 ranked Plattsburgh State women’s hockey team overwhelmed second ranked Elmira 4-2.
Plattsburgh State jumped all over Elmira right off the rip scoring three goals in the third period.
Sophomore, Melissa Sheeran would tally the first two goals of the game. Her first goal came from a beautiful pass from fellow sophomore Kayla Meneghin hitting Sheeran right in the slot for an easy wrister by Soaring Eagles goalie Kelcey Crawford. The Schaghticoke, N.Y. native would take herself on the second goal, finishing a breakaway with a pretty deke tucking the puck into the net past a sprawled Crawford.
The Cardinals would take a 3-0 lead right as an Elmira penalty expired. Melissa Ames snuck a shot through a scrum of players and past Crawford with exactly three minutes remaining in the first period.
After the third Plattsburgh State goal, Crawford would be lifted for junior goaltender Kyle Nelson.
Jordan Lipson would make it 4-0 Plattsburgh State on the power player for the only goal of the second period. Lipson would be on the receiving end from another crisp pass from Meneghin that went across through the defense to Lipson on the far post. The Davis, Calif. native would roof the puck top corner over the glove of Nelson for the tally.
However Elmira would come to life in the third period to score two goals of their own.
First Sarah Hughson would jam in a rebound past Cardinal goaltender Camille Leonard to make it 4-1 Plattsburgh State with 9:47 remaining in the third period.
The Soaring Eagles would score a second goal just 1:06 later to cut the Cardinal lead in half, 4-2. Shannon Strawinski would get credited for the Elmira goal on a bit of a breakaway to beat Leonard.
Elmira would continue to pressure the Cardinals down the stretch including getting a 5-3 power play opportunity with under four minutes remaining in the game but the Plattsburgh State defense wouldn’t budge to preserve the 4-2 victory.
Leonard corralled 31 saves on 33 shots for her 17th win of the season. Today ended Leonard’s seven-game shutout streak that extending a total of 480:52 minutes. The Oakville, Ontario native last gave up a goal on December 1, 2015 to Potsdam in the second period. Her seven-straight games mark the longest shutout streak in program history.
Elmira starter Crawford made nine saves in the first 17 minutes before turning to Nelson who made 22 saves on 23 shots in the final 43 minutes.
Sheeran with her two goals Saturday afternoon improves her team-high 21 goals and now sits tied on top of the Division III women’s hockey points per game leaderboard.
No. 1 Plattsburgh State remains undefeated on the season and move to 19-0-0 (12-0-0 ECACW) while No. 2 Elmira suffered its second loss of the season falling to 15-2-1 (10-1-0 ECACW).
The Cardinals and Soaring Eagles will square off again Sunday at 3 p.m. to complete their weekend series against each other.
