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March 17, 2010

Cards exceeding expectations

By JOHN CORYER

DID YOU KNOW?


You can look back over the last 70 years at some of the area athletes and personalities who made headlines in area sports. Flashback will revive memories of great local athletes and outstanding team successes.

PLATTSBURGH — One game can change the perception of a season.

That was indeed the case last Saturday night when Jared Docking's overtime goal lifted the Plattsburgh State men's hockey team to a 3-2 win at Middlebury College in the NCAA Division III tournament quarterfinals.

"Just making it to the tournament is so hard," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "When you get there and then win like we did in Middlebury, it becomes so rewarding. It deems the season a success.

"But we can't be satisfied. Only one team is going to be happy at the end of the weekend. If you win a national championship, it makes the spring and summer that much better to enjoy, and the players have memories they can talk about forever."

Plattsburgh State (19-4-5), Oswego (26-2), Norwich (24-1-4) and St. Norbert (23-3-3) are the teams competing in Friday's semifinals at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid.

St. Norbert and Oswego tangle at 4 p.m., followed by Plattsburgh State versus Norwich at 7:30 p.m. The national championship game is set for Saturday at 5 p.m.

What made the Cardinals' win over Middlebury even more impressive was what happened the weekend before, when Plattsburgh State surrendered more goals than it has all season in a disappointing 6-3 loss to Oswego in the State University of New York Athletic Conference Tournament title contest. The Lakers held a 6-1 lead at one time, capitalizing on a number of Cardinal mistakes.

"Adversity can make you better," Emery said. "We learned a lot more about ourselves in the Oswego game than we did in the Middlebury game."

The Cardinals establish lofty goals every season, but even Emery is a little bit surprised by this group.

"Considering what we lost last year, we have gone above expectations," he said. "We lost two of our top four scorers in Joey Wilson, who had 24 goals last season, and Riley Hill, who had 14. Plus, we lost four of our top six defensemen.

"Then, we find out in March we lost our SUNYAC Most Valuable Player, (goaltender) Bryan Hince, who decided not to come back. Now, we have to go out and find two goalies. Going in, this was one of our most uncertain teams in recent history.

"We had to focus more on keeping the puck out of our net. And we did a good job in that respect against Middlebury, and now we have to do the same in Lake Placid."

Emery credits Plattsburgh State's difficult schedule, with many of the tougher games on the road, in helping the Cardinals earn an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.

"We tied Norwich and Elmira on the road and we beat Middlebury at a neutral site among our more difficult games," he said. "And we didn't have any hiccups against the teams we were expected to beat, except maybe for the tie with Potsdam."

"Playing the tough schedule is why we're in the tournament. But if we score five or six more goals, in some of those more difficult games, then we would be having an unbelievable season."

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