By COURTNEY LEWIS
PLATTSBURGH — This time, Plattsburgh State went up by three goals in the middle of the game and ended it that way.
Saturday's contest still got interesting in the third period, but the Cardinals responded better after a sloppy finish Friday.
Laurie Bowler notched a hat trick as No. 3 Plattsburgh State beat RIT 5-2 at Stafford Ice Arena and all but clinched first place in the ECAC West.
RIT coach Scott McDonald said it will be "almost impossible" for anyone to catch the Cardinals (12-1-1, 10-0-1 ECACW). Even if Elmira wins its game today, the Cardinals will be four points ahead of the Soaring Eagles and nine in front of RIT and Utica.
Plattsburgh State has seven conference games left — all against teams in the bottom half of the standings — and owns the tiebreaker over everybody in the hunt.
Assuming they hold their position, the Cardinals will host the lowest remaining seed in the conference tournament after a first-round bye. Last year, as the third seed, they had to play in the first round and then face the No. 2 seed.
"First place is a lot better than third," Plattsburgh State coach Kevin Houle said. "We don't overlook anybody here and don't look too far down the line. But if you're two or three, you've got a tough game. So we like where we sit right now."
The fourth-ranked Tigers (10-4-3, 5-3-2) lost consecutive games for the first time in more than two years, and Plattsburgh State became the first ECAC West team to sweep them since they joined the conference in 2007-08.
After the Cardinals went ahead 3-0, RIT's Katie Stack scored late in the second and Megan Kobar put in a power-play goal to make it a one-goal game with 4:50 left in the third. But Houle said the Cardinals played better than Friday, when their three-goal lead shrank to one in a span of 1:07.
"I think we definitely played a lot smarter," Houle said. "They put pressure on you, there's no doubt about it, and we withstood it.
"I thought we played much smarter, much more poised with the lead today."
Bowler sealed it with a sizzling wrist shot that slipped under the crossbar and bounced back out at 17:19. The senior also backhanded in a low shot in the middle of the first period and made it 2-0 in the second while both teams had a player in the penalty box. She totaled four goals on the weekend.
"Just beating them, that's the best feeling for sure," Bowler said. "The goals don't mean anything. Just as long as we beat them on the scoreboard and come out with the four points, that's all that matters to me."
Megan DiJulio poked in Plattsburgh State's third goal, and Brittany Meade potted an empty-netter. Mandy Mackrell turned away 30 shots.
RIT entered the weekend with the best power play in Division III but went 1-for-7 each day.
"It's kind of been our bread and butter all year, our power play. It's been clicking," McDonald said. "And (the Cardinals) did a great job sealing the front of the net and letting the goalie see the puck.
"And again we had some second chances, and we're just not shooting the puck hard enough to beat a good goalie."
Carley King, who replaced Amy Torgerson during Friday's game, started in net Saturday but was pulled in the second period. King took the loss with five saves on seven shots, and Torgerson had 15 saves.
—
Plattsburgh State 5, RIT 2
RIT011—2
Plattsburgh State122—5
First period- 1, PS, Bowler (Bond), 10:49.
Second period- 2, PS, Bowler (Shaubel, Pomponio), 7:43. 3, PS, DiJulio (Moberg, Meade), 12:10 (pp). 4, RIT, Stack, 19:54.
Third period- 5, RIT, Kobar, 15:10 (pp). 6, PS, Bowler, 17:19. 7, PS, Meade (Fairfield), 19:37 (en).
Shots on goal:
RIT14612—32
Plattsburgh State51010—25
Goaltenders (shots-saves): King, RIT, 7-5. Torgerson, RIT, 17-15. Mackrell, PS, 32-30.
Power plays (goals-opportunities): RIT 1-7; Plattsburgh State 1-6.
Attendance: 325.
E-mail Courtney Lewis at: clewis@pressrepublican.com
