By JOHN CORYER
PLATTSBURGH — Playing smart hockey has put the Plattsburgh State men's hockey team into this weekend's Final Four in Lake Placid.
The Cardinals kept their season going when Jared Docking's goal at 3:19 of sudden-death overtime lifted Plattsburgh State to a 3-2 victory over Middlebury College in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals at Chip Kenyon Arena Saturday night.
"A big part of the reason why we did so well was because we played smart," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery on Sunday. "We played hard as well.
"It was our best game of the year. It was a game between two pretty evenly-matched teams and we picked a good time to have a good game."
Middlebury, down 2-0 at one time, forced overtime with a goal with 7:01 left in regulation.
"The attitude on the bench was real good," said Emery. "Even we they tied it, 2-all, the players didn't get too down on the ice and in the lockerroom."
The Final Four semifinals at the Herb Brooks Arena on Friday has Oswego (26-2) against St. Norbert 23-3-3) at 4 p.m., followed by Plattsburgh State (19-5-4) versus Norwich (24-1-4) at 7:30 p.m.
The national championship game is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday.
"Four of the top five ranked teams in the country will be there," said Emery. "It goes to show the system works. Middlebury was ranked fourth and we were fifth, but it was real close between us two.
"It's exciting for the guys on our team — from the veterans to the newcomers. I'm really happy for our players because they did a good job buying into what we wanted to do. It's also a close game and a treat for our fans."
Norwich and Plattsburgh State have already met twice this season, both at Kreitzberg Arena, with the Cadets winning in a shootout in the finals of the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout and then skating to a 4-1 victory.
"We can't be just happy to be there," said Emery. "Norwich is tough at home and we haven't beaten them this season. We're looking forward to playing them on neutral ice."
Ticket information: Plattsburgh State fans looking to purchase tickets to the Final Four can do so by calling the Olympic Center's box office at 518-523-3330, or on-line by visiting http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?organ_val=2439.
Here's how the three other quarterfinal games went:
Norwich 2
Elmira 1, OT
The Cadets held a huge 39-13 advantage in shots on goal, but needed Pier-Oliver Cotnoir's goal at 2:12 of overtime to escape with a win at Kreitzberg Arena.
In fact, it took Steven Schroeder's goal with 48 seconds left in regulation to force overtime for Norwich, which had pulled goalie Ryan Klingensmith for an extra attacker.
Casey Tuttle was outstanding in net for the Soaring Eagles with 37 saves.
Oswego 9,
Bowdoin 2
The SUNYAC-champion Lakers held a modest 33-23 shot advantage, but had no trouble finding the back of the net, scoring two goals in the first, five in the second and two more in the third.
Bowdoin actually took a 1-0 lead, only to have Oswego score the next eight goals. Neil Musselwhite tallied four goals and Hank Van Boxmeer added two for the Lakers.
St. Norbert 3
Gustavus Adolphus 1
Tyler Allen's goal with 12 seconds left in the first period broke a 1-all tie and put St. Norbert ahead to stay. It stayed 2-1 until 19:00 of the third when Brandon Longley scored an empty-net goal to ice it.
St. Norbert held a 25-18 advantage in shots on goal and B.J. O'Brien stopped 17 of 18 shots in net for the victory.
