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December 4, 2008

Big homecoming for Cardinals

Plattsburgh hosts arch-rival Oswego in first game at Stafford in 5 weeks

By JOHN CORYER

PLATTSBURGH — The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team hasn't played at home since Nov. 1.

And, the first home game since then at the Stafford Ice Arena doesn't get much better than this.

The top-ranked Cardinals close out their first semester against State University of New York Athletic Conference rival Oswego tonight at 7 p.m. before taking on Cortland on Saturday night.

"It's going to be an exciting game, with a lot of emotion," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "It's a good rivalry and what Division III hockey is all about.

"It's a big game for a lot of people — players, coaches and fans."

The Cardinals (7-0-2, 5-0-1) are coming off a third-place finish in last weekend's PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout at Middlebury College.

Plattsburgh State and Norwich University skated to a 3-all overtime tie in the opening round before the Cadets prevailed in a shootout. The Cardinals then defeated St. Thomas (Minn.), 5-3, in the third-place contest.

Oswego (7-3-1, 4-1-1), meanwhile, traveled out west and recorded a 4-3 win over the defending Division III national champions in the opening round of the St. Norbert Thanksgiving Tournament. The Lakers then fell, 5-4, to St. Scholastica.

"Both teams (Plattsburgh and Oswego) are coming off weekends on the road against good opponents," Emery said. "In the last 5-10 years, it's been especially difficult to beat St. Norbert at their place."

It's been an up-and-down season so far for Oswego, which has quality wins over St. Norbert and Elmira (6-4) among its seven victories. The Lakers, however, fell to Geneseo by a 4-2 margin at home and skated to a 5-all overtime tie with Morrisville.

Emery fully expects the real Oswego team to show up for tonight's conference battle.

"No doubt, they are a very talented team," Emery said. "Especially at forward. They definitely won't have any trouble being emotionally ready to play. And, neither will we."

Four Oswego players have 10 points or more thus far on the season — senior forward Ryan Ellis (8-8-16), senior forward Brendan McLaughlin (5-11-16), freshman forward Eric Selleck (8-6-14) and senior forward Matt Whitehead (5-6-11).

The goaltending duties have been shared by senior Chris Hyk (3-2-1, 3.59 gaa) and freshman Paul Beckwith (4-1-0, 2.57 gaa).

The Cardinals defeated the Lakers three times last season — all three in close games, including a 3-2 overtime win in Plattsburgh late in the regular season. The Cardinals edged out a 4-3 win over Oswego in the SUNYAC Tournament title game at the Stafford Ice Arena.

Emery says the Cardinals, who have five players with 10 points or more, need to continue improving.

"We're playing good defense right now, but we need to be more opportunistic on offense," he said. "The bottom line, however, is we need to continue to get better."

Cortland, the Cardinals' opponent on Saturday, is in Potsdam tonight. The Red Dragons are 4-5-1 overall and tied for sixth in the SUNYAC standings at 2-3-1. Cortland is just two points out of third, however.

Junior forward Patrick Palmisano (5-6-11), sophomore forward Greg Haney (4-7-11) and sophomore forward Jarrett Gold (3-7-10) are the leading point-getters for the Red Dragons.

Cortland has used three goaltenders — freshman Mike Reilly (2-3-0, 4.51 gaa), junior Dan Jewell (1-2-1, 4.70 gaa) and senior Mike Mistretta (1-0-0, 3.77 gaa).

Tickets available: There will be 250 standing room only tickets sold at the door for tonight's Oswego game.

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