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March 18, 2010

No pressure on Cardinals

Plattsburgh State takes on No. 1 Norwich in NCAA semis

By JOHN CORYER

DID YOU KNOW?

This week in the Press-Republican : These are photos from the Press-Republican. Each week they are moved to the monthly gallery.

You can view photos from past issues of the Press-Republican grouped in monthly galleries.

•   View this week's photos.
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LAKE PLACID — The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team finds itself just one win away from playing for the NCAA Division III Tournament championship.

All that stands in the way of the Cardinals and a berth in the title contest is the No. 1-ranked team in the country, which has lost only once in 29 games this season.

Plattsburgh State (19-4-5) takes on Norwich (24-1-4) tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the NCAA Division III Tournament Final Four semifinals at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid.

The first game of the day has Oswego (26-2) opposing St. Norbert (23-3-3) at 4 p.m. The national championship game is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Norwich, Oswego and St. Norbert and ranked 1-2-3, respectively, in the Division III poll, while Plattsburgh State is fifth.

"No one is giving us a chance to win and there's no pressure on us," said Emery. "We have nothing to lose going in."

The Cadets and Cardinals skated to a 1-all tie at Kreitzberg Arena in the championship game of the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout on Nov. 28 before Norwich won the title in a shootout.

Then, on Jan. 5 at Kreitzberg Arena, the Cadets recorded a 4-1 victory over the Cardinals.

"We played real well the first time against them," Emery said. "We turned the puck over too much the second time. We did that only twice during the regular season and that was one of those times."

At least the Cardinals get the Cadets, who were 17-0-2 at home this season, away from Kreitzberg Arena and on neutral ice.

"Playing in a big rink will help us," Emery said. "We will need to play smart and we can't get caught running around. Goaltending and defense will be key.

"Norwich plays a style somewhat similar to Middlebury. We had a week to prepare for Middlebury and it's the same with Norwich."

Mike McShane is getting some big offensive stats from his freshmen.

Three of Norwich's top four scorers are freshmen, including Blake Forkey (15-22-37), who leads the team in points.

Classmate Kyle Thomas is the leading goal scorer on the team with 23. The Cadets have nine players with 20 points or more.

The Cadets have outscored their opponents, 142-40, and senior Ryan Klingensmith has been outstanding in net with a 22-1-3 record and a sparkling 1.31 goals-against-average.

The Cardinals have outscored their opponents, 123-57, and Plattsburgh State has four players with 22 points or more and 15 with 11 or more. The Cardinals are led by junior Dylan Clarke (12-17-29), junior Eric Satim (11-15-26), sophomore Kyle Kudroch (14-8-22) and senior Andrew Willock (6-16-22). Junior Dan Sliasis has tallied 10 goals.

Two freshmen — Ryan Williams (10-2-1, 2.16 gaa) and Josh Leis (9-3-3, 1.71 gaa) — are Plattsburgh State's goaltenders.

Leis was in net for the Cardinals' 3-2 overtime win at Middlebury last Saturday in the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals.

Norwich, meanwhile, held a 39-13 shot advantage in its quarterfinal contest against Elmira. But, it was 1-0 Elmira until Steven Schroeder forced overtime with 48 seconds remaining after Klingensmith was pulled for an extra attacker. Pier-Oliver Cotnoir then won it with 2:12 gone in overtime.

Oswego vs.
St. Norbert

Oswego was the Division III 2007 national champion, and St. Norbert won it all in 2008.

The Lakers are the most prolific scorers in this year's tournament, having found the back of the net 151 times in 28 games this season.

They enter the weekend coming off a 9-2 blowout victory over Bowdoin in the quarterfinals after defeating Plattsburgh for the SUNYAC crown.

St. Norbert's postseason journey continues thanks to a tight 3-1 victory over Gustavus Adolphus last weekend.

The Green Knights, who beat the Cardinals in the 2008 championship game, owe their success to stout defense. St. Norbert hasn't lost in 12 games and is the only team in the Final Four that had to travel by plane.

Plattsburgh Cardinals
Overall: 19-5-4 (123 GF, 57 GA)

SUNYAC: 13-2-1 (76 GF, 30 GA)

Home: 10-1-1 (61 GF, 22 GA)

Away: 8-4-3 (59 GA, 34 GA)

Leading scorers

Player g a pts

Dylan Clarke 12 17 29

Eric Satim 11 15 26

Kyle Kudroch 14 8 22

Andrew Willock 6 16 22

Dan Sliasis 10 9 19

Goaltenders

Goalie w l t gaa

Ryan Williams 10 2 1 2.16

Josh Leis 9 3 3 1.71

—

Norwich Cadets
Overall: 24-1-4 (142 GF, 40 GA)

ECAC East: 16-1-2 (91 GF, 29 GA)

Home: 17-0-2 (107 GF, 24 GA)

Away: 7-1-2 (35 GF, 16 GA)

Leading scorers

Player g a pts

Blake Forkey 15 22 37

Chad Anderson 12 24 36

Kyle Thomas 23 8 31

Steven Schroeder 9 14 23

Emmond Bell 7 14 21

D.J. Fimiani 7 14 21

Goaltenders

Goalie w l t gaa

Ryan Klingensmith 22 1 3 1.31

Alex Dubois 2 0 1 1.78

—

Oswego Lakers

Overall: 26-2 (151 GF, 55 GA)

SUNYAC: 15-1 (87 GF, 28 GA)

Home: 17-0 (98 GF, 30 GA)

Away: 9-2 (53 GF, 25 GA)

Leading scorers

Player g a pts

Eric Selleck 21 32 53

Chris Laganiere 16 29 45

Justin Fox 13 32 45

Jon Whitelaw 11 26 37

Neil Musselwhite 22 13 35

Goaltenders

Goalie w l t gaa

Kyle Gunn-Taylor 18 1 0 1.90

Paul Beckwith 8 1 0 2.00

—

St Norbert Green Knights
Overall: 23-3-3 (122 GF, 49 GA)

NCHA: 14-2-2 (74 GF, 32 GA)

Home: 14-1-1 (85 GF, 26 GA)

Away: 8-1-2 (35 GF, 19 GA)

Leading scorers

Player g a pts

Shane Wheeler 13 18 31

Tyler Allen 14 16 30

Matt Boyd 9 19 28

Johan Ryd 10 16 26

Cody Keefer 12 12 24

Goaltenders

Goalie w l t gaa

B.J. O'Brien 23 2 3 1.58

Blake Bashor 0 1 0 3.58

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