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January 28, 2010

Cardinals' DiJulio earns reward

Extra shooting turns Cardinal junior into scorer

By COURTNEY LEWIS



For three seasons, Megan DiJulio and Mandy Mackrell have stayed on the ice most days after practice, with DiJulio firing pucks at Mackrell in net.

Mackrell stepped into Plattsburgh State's starting goaltender job this season. And that extra shooting has paid dividends for DiJulio, too.

The junior winger is having a career year for the Cardinals and is among the Division III leaders in goal scoring.

"I stay every day after practice, me and Mandy," DiJulio said. "We've done it for three years, and we're finally both getting our chance and both rising to the occasion. Hard work does pay off."

DiJulio heads into this weekend's ECAC West series at Buffalo State on a four-game point streak.

The 5-foot-9 Slave Lake, Alberta native totaled 14 points in both of her first two seasons, including 10 goals as a freshman.

Fifteen games into this season, she has already surpassed those numbers.

DiJulio netted four goals in her last three games to move into the team lead with 13. She now ranks sixth nationally in goals-per-game.

Her 18 points put her second among Plattsburgh State scorers, behind Stephanie Moberg's 22. She also leads the Cardinals with five power-play goals.

And DiJulio's goals are often timely — she's second in the country with four game-winners.

"She's always been a good player, and this year she has really stepped up her game into that go-to player," Plattsburgh State coach Kevin Houle said. "And she's a force. She's big, she's strong, she can skate, she can shoot. "She's been, I don't want to say a pleasant surprise — because we knew she had the potential to play like she has — but it's certainly been great to see her step up."

From the start of this season, Houle said the Cardinals (13-1-1, 10-0-1 ECACW) would need some upperclassmen to take bigger roles and help fill the shoes of last year's prolific senior class.

DiJulio said she knew she needed to be one of those players. But her motivation has also stemmed from the way last year's seniors ended their careers — losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament after three straight title game appearances.

"I don't want to see that happen again," DiJulio said. "The three seniors (Moberg, Laurie Bowler and Kayla McDougall) are three of my best friends. I've been close with them since I've been here, and I don't want them to have a bad last year. And that really pushes me every day."

DiJulio skates with one of those seniors — Bowler — and fellow junior Steph Moon. The line has erupted for 16 points in the last three games.

Bowler has five goals in her last four contests after a slow start offensively. She's fourth on the team with 14 points, and Moon is right behind with 13.

"Since the beginning of the year, our line has really clicked, but we're finally all starting to put the puck in the net," DiJulio said. "We all work really hard. It's all paying off, and it's nice."

The line will look to continue its hot streak tonight and Saturday against a Buffalo State team that received a big blow off the ice Thursday.

The Bengals (8-8-1, 5-5-1) are having their best season since 2000-01. At fifth in the standings, they were right in the race to make the six-team conference playoffs.

But Thursday the NCAA Division III Committee on Infractions handed down a one-year postseason ban. According to the NCAA web site, the school violated financial aid rules by awarding special grants to Canadian student-athletes. The ruling also affected the men's team. The web site said effective immediately, the teams will not be eligible for any postseason play.

The Bengals had seemingly just bolstered their playoff hopes by beating Utica last Friday. The Pioneers bounced back with an overtime win the next day to end Buffalo State's six-game unbeaten streak.

Buffalo State, which won just two games last season, swept Cortland early in the season and also has nonconference wins over Connecticut College and Williams. The Bengals finish the season with an extremely difficult stretch. After hosting the first-place Cardinals, they face Elmira, Neumann and RIT.

Freshman forward Kailyn Murray paces the Bengals with 12 points, and junior Alyssa Koniar is 7-6-1 in net.

E-mail Courtney Lewis at: clewis@pressrepublican.com

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