PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Junior forward Courtney Moriarty (Estero, Fla./Northfield Mount Hermon) broke the NCAA Division III single-season record in game-winning goals and scored a natural hat trick, as the No. 1/2 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team cruised to a 9-1 Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) win over Buffalo State on Saturday afternoon at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.
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.
Moriarty netted her 12th game-winning goal of the year to stake sole claim of the Division III single-season record. Senior forward Melissa Sheeran (Schaghticoke, N.Y./Millbrook School) established the previous standard of 11 last year. In addition, Moriarty scored three straight goals in a span of 8:09 in the second period to tally a natural hat trick. Moriarty also is now sitting on 99 career points, which she has achieved on 56 goals and 43 assists.
Beyond Moriarty, Sheeran had a standout game with five points on one goal and four assists.
Plattsburgh State rises to 20-2-2 overall (14-0-1 NEWHL) with the win, while Buffalo State drops to 13-9-2 overall (9-5-1 NEWHL) with the loss. The two teams will close out their respective regular-season slates tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. Prior to the start of the game, Plattsburgh State will honor its four seniors as a part of Senior Day.
It took just 5:09 for the Cardinals to fire the opening salvo, as freshman defenseman Kerri Corcoran (Rockville, Md./Washington Pride) scored her first career goal. Junior forward Mackenzie Millen (Anchorage, Alaska/North American Hockey Academy) sent a pass to Corcoran from behind the goal line to the right point, and Corcoran put a shot past the Bengal goalie to give Plattsburgh State a 1-0 lead. Freshman defenseman Emma Killeen (Watertown, Conn./The Gunnery) also earned an assist on the play.
While Plattsburgh State entered the first intermission with a 1-0 lead, Buffalo State tied the game 7:05 into the second period on a 5-on-3 power play. Senior defenseman Emily DeCock fed senior defenseman/forward Christine Harris with a D-to-D pass, and Harris found sophomore forward Natasha Steinle in the left face-off circle. Steinle then went glove side to level the score at 1-all.
Moriarty scored the first of her three straight goals with 10:33 elapsed in the second period on the power play. Sheeran fed the puck in from the right face-off circle, and sophomore forward Meghan Kraus (Bellingham, Wash./Northern Cyclones) put her stick on it before Moriarty shot it across the goal line.
Moriarty's second marker also came on the power play, as she found the back of the net with 15:53 gone in the second. Senior forward Kayla Meneghin (Clifton, N.J./The Gunnery) passed to Sheeran, who took a shot from the high slot that sailed over the net and ricocheted off of the glass. The puck landed right in front of the net, and Moriarty capitalized.
Finally, Moriarty completed the natural hat trick with 1:18 remaining in the second. Killeen fed Millen, and Millen sent a cross-ice pass to Moriarty from the neutral zone. Millen's pass sprung her past four Bengal defenders, and with a one-on-one opportunity with the goalie, she went glove side to make it a 4-1 game.
Sheeran added a goal to her ledger 2:07 into the third period. Freshman forward Annie Katonka (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Pens Elite) sent a short pass to Sheeran, who was along the right boards, and Sheeran passed back to Killeen just in front of the blue line. Killeen sent it right back to Sheeran, and Sheeran beat two defenders, went around the back of the goal and wrapped the puck inside the left post.
Junior defenseman Baye Flanagan (Billerica, Mass./Merrimack College) scored her second goal of the season on a 5-on-3 power play with 13:33 gone in the third. Sheeran sent the puck from behind the goal line up to freshman defenseman Erin McArdle (Macomb, Mich./Detroit Belle Tire) at the top of the right circle. McArdle passed D-to-D to Flanagan, and Flangan scored low glove side to make it a 6-1 game.
Senior defenseman Lizzy Viola (Williamsville, N.Y./Buffalo Bisons) scored on the power play 40 seconds later to stretch the score to 7-1. Junior defenseman Maci Hoskins (Oklahoma City, Okla./Northwood School) passed cross-ice to Viola in the neutral zone, and Viola fed the puck to freshman forward Madison Walker (Denver, Colo./Lansing Spartans) along the left boards. Walker and Viola passed it back and forth to each other before Viola set up in the high slot and beat the Bengal goalie glove side to net her second career goal and first of the season.
Plattsburgh State struck again 15:27 into the third period. Sheeran centered a pass to freshman forward Abby Brush(Mount Prospect, Ill./Chicago Young Americans) in the low slot, and Brush one-timed a shot that was saved. Katonka wound up picking up a loose puck in the slot and ripped a shot past the Buffalo State goaltender to stake the Cardinals to an 8-1 cushion.
Finally, sophomore forward Sarah Wolf (Fairport, N.Y./Boston Shamrocks Elite) rounded out scoring with 1:29 remaining in regulation. Walker handed the puck off to Wolf, who took a shot that was saved before corralling the rebound and going top shelf. McArdle also earned an assist on the play.
Plattsburgh State finished with a 51-20 edge in shots on goal and went 4-for-8 on the power play. Buffalo State was 1-for-6 with the extra attacker.
Junior goaltender Kassi Abbott (Medford, Mass./Boston Shamrocks Elite) made 19 saves in the win for the Cardinals, while freshman goaltender Bri Gawronski turned aside 42 shots in the loss for the Bengals.