By JOHN CORYER
PLATTSBURGH — Once Plattsburgh State got on the scoreboard Tuesday night, the Cardinals not only played well, but smart.
Joey Wilson scored two goals and the Cardinals skated to a key 4-1 non-conference victory over Middlebury College at the Stafford Ice Arena.
Top-ranked Plattsburgh State improved to 15-1-2 overall, while the No. 5-ranked Panthers fell to 12-3-1.
"Middlebury is a great team and it's easy to get ready to play them," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "We played well tonight, played smart and got great leadership."
Bill Beaney's Panthers, however, held a 1-0 lead after one and it took the Cardinals until the 10:58 mark in the second period to tie the score.
Phil Farrow skated around the Middlebury net, appeared to look to pass the puck at first and then sent a shot inside the crossbar on the near side past Middlebury netminder John Yanchek.
Less than two minutes later, at 12:56, the Cardinals broke in on a two-on-one and Farrow sent a perfect pass to Wilson, who gave Plattsburgh State the lead for good, at 2-1.
Then, at 18:11, the Cardinals executed a nice three-way passing play from Nick Rolls to Farrow to Wilson, who scored his second goal of the contest, this one on the powerplay.
"The first goal is the hardest to get," Emery said. "But, I thought the goal that gave us the 2-1 lead was key. And, our third goal was also key."
The Cardinals then held the Panthers to three shots on goal in the third period and Riley Hill's empty-net goal at 19:05 closed out the scoring.
"What I liked the most was that in the third period, we played smart with the lead," Emery said. "We were able to get the puck in deep and were able to take time off the clock."
Middlebury, which held a 10-8 shot advantage in the first period, grabbed the early lead on Martin Drolet's goal at 7:02 of the opening stanza. Drolet skated between the slots and sent a low shot along the ice just inside the post past Cardinal netminder Bryan Hince.
"The first period was like a ping pong match — back and forth with a lot of transition," said Emery.
"But, we were then able to get the puck in deep in the second period, and we focused on not letting Middlebury get into transition because that's what they're good at."
The Cardinals ended up with a 30-23 edge in shots on goal. Both goalies played well, with Hince stopping 22 of 23 shots and Yanchek 26 of 29. It was the first loss of the season for Yanchek, a freshman, who came into the game with an 8-1 record.
Plattsburgh State also played with discipline while being whistled for only two penalties in the game — both in the third period. The Cardinals were one-of-six on the powerplay and the Panthers scoreless in two tries.
"I felt our powerplay was working well," said Emery.
The Cardinals are back in action Saturday with a 7 p.m. SUNYAC game at the Stafford Ice Arena against Morrisville.
—
Plattsburgh 4, Middlebury 1
Score by periods:
Middlebury 1 0 0 — 1
Plattsburgh 0 3 1 — 4
First period- 1, Midd, Drolet (Curran), 7:02. Penalties- Donahoe, Midd (tripping), 13:37.
Second period- 2, PSU, Farrow (Dennis, Burke), 10:58. 3, PSU, Wilson (Farrow, Dennis), 12:56. 4, PSU, Wilson ppg (Farrow, Rolls), 18:11. Penalties- Kretschmer, Midd (hooking), 1:51. Curran, Midd (tripping), 2:42. Donahoe, Midd (holding), 16:20.
Third period- 5, PSU, Hill eng (Corry), 19:05. Penalties- Donahue, Midd (slashing), :55. Rolls, PSU (slashing), 7:07. Svoboda, Midd (goaltender interference), 7:52. Willock, PSU (interference), 15:15.
Shots on goal:
Middlebury 10 10 3 — 23
Plattsburgh 8 13 9 — 30
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Yanchek, Midd, 29-26. Hince, 23-22.
Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Middlebury, 0-2. Plattsburgh 1-6.
Attendance: 1,523.
