PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Junior forward Courtney Moriarty (Estero, Fla./Northfield Mount Hermon) tied the NCAA Division III single-season record in game-winning goals (11), as the No. 1/2 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team posted a 5-0 Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) victory over SUNY Potsdam on Sunday afternoon at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena to complete a weekend sweep of the Bears.
Senior forward Melissa Sheeran (Schaghticoke, N.Y./Millbrook School) also scored 11 game-winning goals last year, giving the two teammates a share of the Division III record.
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 1 in the D3hockey.com Women's Top-10 Poll and No. 2 in the USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-10 Poll.
The Cardinals had five different goal scorers in the game, while senior goaltender Brooke Wolejko (South Windsor, Conn./St. Lawrence University) posted her fifth shutout of the year, turning aside 23 shots. Plattsburgh State finished with a 47-23 edge in shots and went 1-for-5 on the power play. Potsdam was 0-for-3 with the extra attacker.
Plattsburgh State rises to 19-2-2 overall (13-0-1 NEWHL) with the win and next hosts Buffalo State on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 3 p.m. Potsdam drops to 11-10-2 overall (3-9-2 NEWHL) with the loss and next hosts Oswego State on Friday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m.
Moriarty wasted no time getting the Cardinals on the board, scoring her NEWHL-leading 22nd goal of the season just 18 seconds into the game. Potsdam tried to clear the zone before freshman defenseman Erin McArdle (Macomb, Mich./Detroit Belle Tire) intercepted the pass. McArdle sent the puck toward the net, and Moriarty tipped it in to give Plattsburgh State the early 1-0 lead.
Junior forward Mackenzie Millen (Anchorage, Alaska/North American Hockey Academy) scored unassisted with 15:16 gone in the first period to extend the lead to 2-0. She stole the puck in Plattsburgh State's defensive zone and drove down the length of the ice before netting a goal glove side.
Just 2:36 later, freshman forward Annie Katonka (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Pens Elite) made it a 3-0 game. Freshman forward Abby Brush (Mount Prospect, Ill./Chicago Young Americans) dug the puck out along the right boards before Katonka gained possession in the neutral zone. Katonka then walked into the zone and beat the Bear netminder glove side from inside the slot.
McArdle scored on the power play with 10 seconds left in the first period to cap a high-scoring opening stanza for the Cardinals. Brush once again dug the puck out from along the boards—this time doing so along the end boards—before Katonka took control behind the goal line. Katonka passed to McArdle at the top of the left face-off circle, and McArdle found twine glove side to stake the home team to a 4-0 lead.
Sheeran tallied the final goal of the game with 9:49 elapsed in the second. Sophomore forward Meghan Kraus(Bellingham, Wash./Northern Cyclones) came away with control of the puck after a scrum along the right boards in the Cardinals' defensive zone, and she crossed the two blue lines before centering a pass to Sheeran in the high slot. Sheeran took a shot that was denied by a blocker save before jabbing in the rebound right in front of the net.
Neither team was able to score in a mostly uneventful third period, though Potsdam did pull its goalie on the power play with 51 seconds left in regulation in hopes of erasing the shutout bid. Wolejko stood tall during that stretch, however, making two stops to preserve the clean sheet.
Potsdam's sophomore goaltender Kayla McCabe turned aside 42 shots in the loss.