By COURTNEY LEWIS
PLATTSBURGH — Stephanie Moberg has been getting advice to use her backhand more.
She tried it Wednesday against Middlebury to no avail. But it worked Sunday — luckily for Plattsburgh State.
Moberg scored with 26 seconds left in overtime to lift the Cardinals to a 2-1 win over Manhattanville in front of a recorded crowd of 499 at Stafford Ice Arena. The senior co-captain also netted the equalizer in the second period.
Top-ranked Plattsburgh State (19-1-2) stretched its unbeaten streak to 14 games.
After No. 9 Manhattanville (16-6-1) had several chances in the middle of the extra stanza, Moberg was stopped on the rush with 1:22 left. Then, with time winding down, she took a pass from Steph Moon near the left point. Moberg skated in, deked and roofed the puck to win it.
"Some guy I know keeps telling me to go to my backhand, and I tried it against Midd, but it didn't work out. So I figured I'd give it a go here," Moberg said. "I was thinking that side of the net was empty if I could get (the goalie) to slide. So it was nice to see one go in."
Moberg tied the game at 1-1 on a shot from a tough angle that hit goaltender Sophia Kokkonis and bounced behind her at 3:22 of the second period.
After the Valiants spent chunks of time in Plattsburgh State's zone in the middle of the third period, the Cardinals put pressure on late. With about 1:30 left, Megan DiJulio rushed in and put a shot on net, and there was a scramble for the rebound. But Kokkonis kept it out.
Manhattanville's Lynsey Schill came down the right side with 25 seconds left, and Kristen Bond slid across the ice in front of her to take away the chance. The Valiants took a timeout with 19 seconds left, and when play resumed, they got a shot off of the faceoff.
Manhattanville took a 1-0 lead in the middle of the first period when Sonia Occhionero deflected Erin Brawley's shot from the point.
Kokkonis finished with 34 saves.
Plattsburgh State led from early on in Saturday's 4-0 win over Manhattanville. It was a different game Sunday, and Plattsburgh State's coach said that wasn't just because of Kokkonis' strong play.
"The goalie did play well," Kevin Houle said. "But a lot of our opportunities came off power plays. We didn't sustain pressure. We didn't give up a lot of shots, but they were dangerous at times.
"We just lacked poise coming out of our own end, and we never got a chance to get that offensive zone cycle and puck possession going."
Mandy Mackrell stopped 19 shots in the Plattsburgh State nets.
Moberg totaled four goals on the weekend, and Sunday she moved into the team lead with 19.
But Houle appreciated more than just Moberg's scoring Sunday.
"She had a phenomenal game," Houle said. "Not just because she had two goals, but ... for the most part all game she was playing with poise. I thought we lacked a lot of poise with the puck today, but she kind of took control every time she was on the ice.
"And two beautiful goals."
The Cardinals went 2-0-1 in three games against ranked teams this week. They were 26 seconds away from another tie, and Moberg said pulling out a win makes a big difference.
"I think it definitely does," she said. "We didn't play at our top performance (Sunday), so it was nice to come out with a win, no matter how that happened. And we need to carry that into the next three games, hopefully finish the regular season well."
Plattsburgh State 2,
Manhattanville 1 (OT)
Manhattanville1000—0
Plattsburgh State0101—2
First period- 1, M, Occhionero (Brawley, Rafferty), 8:11.
Second period- 2, PS, Moberg, 3:22.
Overtime- 3, PS, Moberg (Moon), 4:34.
Shots on goal:
Manhattanville5672—20
Plattsburgh State101493—36
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Kokkonis, M, 36-34. Mackrell, PS, 20-19.
Power plays (goals-opportunities): Manhattanville 0-4; Plattsburgh State 0-6.
Attendance: 499
E-mail Courtney Lewis at: clewis@pressrepublican.com
