College Hockey Stats Box Score

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The No. 2/2 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team registered its fifth consecutive shutout to start the season with a 7-0 Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) victory over SUNY Potsdam on Saturday evening at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. It completed a weekend sweep for the Cardinals, as they topped Potsdam, 5-0, Friday evening on the road.
 
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 2 in both the USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-10 Poll and the D3hockey.com Women's Top-10 Poll.
 
The Cardinals scored early and held a slight 1-0 lead through the first 30 minutes of play, but four goals in a span of less than five minutes midway through the second period gave Plattsburgh State the cushion it needed to pull away. Seven different Cardinals scored in the contest.
 
Plattsburgh State finished with a 53-17 edge in shots on goal, while both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play.
 
Sophomore forward Annie Katonka (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Pens Elite) registered three points on one goal and two assists, while sophomore forward Abby Brush (Mount Prospect, Ill./Chicago Young Americans) and freshman forward Holly Schmelzer (East Amherst, N.Y./Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles) each tallied a goal and an assist. Schmelzer scored her first collegiate goal with 11:28 gone in the second.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 5-0-0 overall (4-0-0 NEWHL) with the win and opens up the Panther/Cardinal Classic against Adrian College on Saturday, Nov. 24, at 6 p.m. at Middlebury College. Potsdam drops to 3-4-1 overall (2-3-1 NEWHL) with the loss and next visits SUNY Canton on Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m.
 
Sophomore forward Kaitlin Drew-Mead (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Buffalo Bisons) opened scoring just 3:36 into the contest. She stole the puck from a Potsdam skater in the Bears' zone and went top shelf glove side from the bottom of the right face-off circle.
 
After nearly a period and a half of scoreless play, Brush started a four-goal surge at 10:23 of the second period that proved to be the difference in the game. Katonka won a battle for the puck in the left corner and got it to Brush, who scored top shelf glove side from just outside the crease.
 
Schmelzer's first collegiate marker came 1:05 later. Potsdam tried to clear the zone, but freshman defenseman Sierra Benjamin (Palm Coast, Fla./Northwood School) intercepted the clearance attempt on the left point. She took a shot that was saved from the high slot before Schmelzer cashed in on the rebound.
 
Sophomore forward Madison Walker (Denver, Colo./Lansing Spartans) scored her first goal of the season and the second of her career 1:07 after Schmelzer's tally. Freshman forward Sara Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones) passed to senior forward Ashley Songin (Springville, N.Y./Nichols School) along the end boards, and Songin fed the puck out in front to Walker in the low slot. Walker took a shot that was turned aside by the Bear goaltender and fought through traffic to poke in the rebound.
 
With 15:12 elapsed in the second, freshman defenseman Hanna Rose (Chaumont, N.Y./Northwood School) handed the Cardinals a 5-0 advantage. Schmelzer fed the puck along the right boards back to senior defenseman Maci Hoskins(Oklahoma City, Okla./Northwood School) on the right point, and Hoskins passed D-to-D to Rose. Rose then fired a slap shot from the point that went top shelf glove side.
 
Freshman forward Moe Tsukimoto (Sapporo, Japan/Northwood School) scored just 50 seconds into the third period to give Plattsburgh State a 6-0 advantage. Katonka won an offensive-zone face-off, and Brush took control of the puck behind the goal line. She then passed to Tsukimoto in the slot, and Tsukimoto sent a one-timer past the Potsdam netminder.
 
Finally, 51 seconds later, Katonka scored what wound up being the final goal of the game. After the two teams vied for possession of the puck along the end boards, a Potsdam skater took control of the puck briefly before Katonka stole it away. Katonka skated into the high slot and wristed a shot past the goalie blocker side.
 
Senior goaltender Kassi Abbott (Medford, Mass./Boston Shamrocks Elite) posted her fifth consecutive shutout to start the year and moved into a three-way tie for fourth in the program's career record book with her 14th career shutout. She made 17 saves in the victory and remains tied for the NCAA Division III lead in save percentage (1.000), goals-against average (0.00) and winning percentage (1.000). Potsdam's sophomore goaltender Samantha White made 46 stops in the loss.