CORTLAND — It's on to Oswego.
The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team took care of business Friday night with a 4-1 victory at Cortland in State University of New York Athletic Conference play.
That sets the stage for tonight's 7 p.m. conference showdown against the SUNYAC-leading and top-ranked Lakers, who tuned up for the Cardinals with a 5-1 home win over Potsdam.
"It should be exciting," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery.
Friday's contest between the Cardinals (13-2-4, 9-1-1) and the Red Dragons (7-13, 4-7) wasn't nearly as exciting.
"Our effort was just okay," said Emery. "We did manage the puck well in our own end, like we have all year.
"We did what we had to do, but I would have liked to have seen more emotion. I never felt real threatened when it was 2-1, but it was quiet on the bench. It was one of those games that's tough to play."
Plattsburgh State started slowly offensively, but took a 1-0 lead late in the first period on Kyle VanderMale's short-handed goal at the 18:19 mark.
Kyle Kudroch then made it 2-0 at 6:45 of the second before Jarrett Gold put Cortland on the board late in the period, at 17:53.
"We could have blown it open, but we missed a lot of chances," Emery said. "Their goalie (Mike Reilly) played pretty well and we also made him look good."
The Cardinals put it away on Dan Sliasis' power-play goal midway through the third period, at 9:51. Kyle Taylor added an empty-net goal with just two seconds left in the contest.
Plattsburgh State finished with a 27-19 advantage in shots on goal. Ryan Williams made 18 saves in net for the Cardinals and Reilly turned away 23 for the Red Dragons.
In the Oswego/Potsdam game, the Lakers led, 2-1, before scoring three goals within an eight-minute span in the third period.
In other SUNYAC action Friday, Fredonia skated to a 5-3 win over Buffalo State and Brockport was a 5-2 winner at Morrisville.
—
Plattsburgh State 4, Cortland 1
Score by periods:
Plattsburgh State 1 1 2 — 4
Cortland 0 1 0 — 1
First period- 1, PSU, VanderMale shg (Docking), 18:19. Penalties- MacLeod, PSU (tripping), 1:12. Tardif, Cort (holding), 11:54. Gonsalves, Cort (tripping), 13:40. Fosso, PSU (hooking), 16:24.
Second period- 2, PSU, Kudroch (Corry, Docking), 6:45. 3, Cort, Gold (Arthur, Porpora), 17:53. Penalties- Friel, Cort (holding), 8:08. Kudroch, PSU (hooking), 9:18. Kaleta, Cort (boarding), 15:03. Sliasis, PSU (holding), 18:31.
Third period- 4, PSU, Sliasis ppg (Jobb), 9:51. 5, PSU, Taylor eng (Kudroch, Adams), 19:58. Penalties- Gonsalves, Cort (hooking), 7:42. Kaleta, Cort (slashing), 8:53. Porpora, Cort (hooking), 17:23.
Shots on goal:
Plattsburgh State 7 11 9 — 27
Cortland 5 7 7 — 19
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Williams, PSU, 19-18. Reilly, Cort, 27-23.
Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Plattsburgh State, 1-7. Cortland, 0-4.
Attendance: 311.
