Press-Republican

Sports

February 7, 2009

Cardinals' Rolls gets 100th point

PLATTSBURGH — It was another successful weekend for the Plattsburgh State men's hockey team — and a milestone for senior defenseman Nick Rolls.

Rolls assisted on the Cardinals' first goal Saturday night to reach 100 points for his career and Plattsburgh State skated to a 4-1 win over Geneseo in State University of New York Athletic Conference play at the Stafford Ice Arena.

The top-ranked Cardinals (19-1-2, 12-0-1) built a 3-0 lead by the midway point in the game and held off the Ice Knights.

"We played pretty well, especially in the first half of the game," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery.

"We let up a little at the start of the third period and were overhandling the puck in the neutral zone. But, we did do a good job keeping the clock running."

Rolls became the eighth Plattsburgh State defenseman and the 46th overall player in Cardinal history to reach 100 points when he assisted on Joey Wilson's goal at 11:43 of the first period. A Plattsburgh State shot was knocked down before it reached the Geneseo net, but Wilson was there to finish the play from just inside the slot for a power-play goal.

The Cardinals then grabbed a 3-0 lead within a two-minute span in the second period.

Defenseman Eric Greene, following some Plattsburgh State pressure in the Geneseo zone, went up top from near the slot to beat Ice Knights' goaltender Cory Gershon at 5:43.

Then, at 7:59, defenseman Mike Kavanagh scored on a low shot from outside the slot for the Cardinals' second power-play goal of the game.

Geneseo (10-10-1, 5-6-1), despite falling behind by three goals, then turned up its game. The Ice Knights broke Bryan Hince's shutout bid at 4:44 of the third period on Dan Brown's tip-in to make it 3-1.

"I liked getting the three-goal lead, but then they were able to score and we weren't able to answer back right away," Emery said.

The Cardinals added the finishing touch at 19:02 when Wilson, after getting a pass from Riley Hill, went in alone on the Geneseo net and beat Gershon with a backhander.

Plattsburgh State ended up with a 26-18 shot advantage, with Hince stopping 17 of 18 shots and Gershon 22 of 26.

"We're doing a good job possessing the puck and keeping it out of our net," Emery said. "And, we're getting the big saves when we need them.

"We're also doing a good job getting the puck down low, getting our cycle going, and playing Cardinal Hockey.

"It was a great weekend for us."

Plattsburgh State has three regular season games remaining and closes out the home portion of the regular season this coming Saturday against Potsdam at 7 p.m.



Plattsburgh State 4, Geneseo 1

Score by periods:

Geneseo 0 0 1 — 1

Plattsburgh State 1 2 1 — 4

First period- 1, PSU, Wilson ppg (Corry, Rolls), 11:43. Penalties- Charbonneau, Gen (boarding), 5:41. Rygiel, Gen (contact to the head), 11:10. MacPhee, Gen (delay of game), 18:51.

Second period- 2, PSU, Greene (Hill, Farrow), 5:43. 3, PSU, Kavanagh ppg (Satim, Sliasis), 7:59. Penalties- Hayden, Gen (contact to the head), 6:31.

Third period- 4, Gen, Brown ppg (Panetta), 4:44. 5, PSU, Wilson Hill), 19:02. Penalties- Burke, PSU (hooking), 3:49. Corry, PSU (slashing), 10:36. Kestell, Gen (tripping), 12:47. MacPhee, Gen (hooking), 15:17. Greene, PSU (hooking), 19:17.

Shots on goal:

Geneseo 5 5 8 — 18

Plattsburgh State 13 9 4 — 26

Goaltenders (shots-saves): Gershon, Gen, 26-22. Hince, PSU, 18-17.

Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Geneseo, 1-3. Plattsburgh State, 2-6.

Attendance: 1792.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local Sports