By JOHN CORYER
PLATTSBURGH -- It's one of the best rivalries in NCAA Division III men's hockey.
And, as usual, the stakes are high.
Plattsburgh State and Oswego, currently No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the State University of New York Athletic Conference regular season standings, get together at 7 p.m. tonight at the Stafford Ice Arena.
The Cardinals (16-2, 9-0, who finished the first half of the season unbeaten in SUNYAC play, will be looking to take a five-point lead over the Lakers in the standings with six conference games to go after tonight.
Oswego, meanwhile, will be looking to pull to within one point of the Cardinals and make it that much more interesting down the stretch.
"It's exciting to get back to league play," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "And, against our rival and defending NCAA Division III champions.
"Oswego is well coached and they will come in here with a lot of energy. We're going to have our hands full."
You can bet the Lakers haven't forgotten their 4-2 loss at home to Plattsburgh State on Nov. 2.
"They are going to come right at us," Emery said. "They are very dangerous offensively, especially on the powerplay, and are capable of putting up big numbers. Their forwards are as good as anyone's in the country."
Emery said it's important for the Cardinals to play their game.
"We have to do what we do well very good in this game," he said.
Oswego is being led in scoring by three junior forwards -- Ryan Ellis (12-11-23), Peter Magagna (6-12-18) and Brendan McLaughlin (7-9-16).
Senior starter Ryan Scott is 8-4-1, with a 2.13 goals-against-average between the pipes for the Lakers, and junior Chris Hyk, 3-0-1, with a 2.53 gaa.
Oswego is coming off a 9-1 non-conference home victory over Morrisville State on Tuesday.
Leading the Cardinals in scoring are freshman forward Dylan Clarke (14-10-24), junior forward Riley Hill (11-12-23), freshman forward Eric Satim (6-14-20) and sophomore forward Joey Wilson (5-15-20). Junior defenseman Nick Rolls has scored 10 goals.
Freshmen Bryan Hince (13-2, 1.90 gaa) and Simon LeBlanc (3-0, 1.88 gaa) have done the vast majority of the work in the nets for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals' last game was an 8-1 victory over Skidmore on Jan. 15.
Oswego is outscoring its opponents by a 72-40 margin, while the Cardinals have a 95-34 scoring edge on their opponents thus far.
One of the reasons for Plattsburgh State's success is a powerplay that has accounted for 39 goals and has clicked at a .328 clip.
Plattsburgh State has some players with a few bumps and bruises who will play, but will be without forward Andrew Willock due to discipinary reasons.
Cortland, which plays at Potsdam tonight, comes to town Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest with the Cardinals. The Red Dragons have won six games in a row.
