MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The No. 2 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team fell to No. 5 Gustavus Adolphus College, 5-1, in the NCAA Division III Tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon at Middlebury College's Chip Kenyon '85 Arena.
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 2 in the DCU/USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-10 Poll, while Gustavus Adolphus is ranked at No. 5.
Gustavus Adolphus finished with a 35-16 edge in shots on goal and went 1-for-4 with the extra skater. Plattsburgh State was scoreless in one chance with the extra attacker.
Plattsburgh State falls to 25-3-1 overall with the loss and will face either Middlebury or Elmira College in the third-place game tomorrow at 3 p.m. Gustavus Adolphus advances to the national championship game with the win and will play the winner of tonight's game between Middlebury and Elmira tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Senior defenseman Emma Killeen (Watertown, Conn./The Gunnery) put the Cardinals on the board early, scoring at 1:21 of the first period. Sophomore forward Mae Olshansky (Wilmette, Ill./North American Hockey Academy) took a shot that went wide and trickled to senior forward Nicole Unsworth (Milwaukee, Wis./East Coast Wizards) in the left corner. Unsworth passed back to Killeen on the left point, and Killeen took a shot that beat the goaltender high blocker side.
Less than a minute later, Gustavus Adolphus tied the game at 1-all. Junior forward Hailey Holland chipped the puck to senior forward Kristina Press, and Press got a short pass to junior forward Molly McHugh, who scored right outside the crease on the left side.
Holland gave the Golden Gusties a lead they would not relinquish at 13:25 of the first period. Sophomore defenseman Sophie Coltvet sent a puck down low to Press along the back wall, and Press connected with Holland, who scored low stick side.
Gustavus Adolphus took a 3-1 lead on a power-play goal 2:56 into the second period. Senior defenseman Kayla Vrieze passed to Holland in the slot, and Holland took a shot that junior goaltender Chloe Beaubien (Colorado Springs, Colo./Ontario Hockey Academy) turned aside with a pad save. Press then banged in the rebound on the doorstep.
At 3:17 of the second period, the Cardinals had initially cut the gap to one, only to have the goal ultimately disallowed after approximately five minutes of official review due to a high-sticking infraction.
The Golden Gusties capitalized on the momentum swing back in their favor, scoring shorthanded at 8:22 of the second. Sophomore forward Brooke Power forced a turnover in the defensive zone and scored high glove side on a breakaway.
First-year forward Hannah Gray added insurance for Gustavus Adolphus at 4:49 of the third. Gray blocked a shot that a Cardinal defenseman took from the point, and used the rebound to spring herself ahead into the attacking zone, finding the back of the net on a shot high glove side.
Senior goaltender Ashley Davis (Winterville, N.C./Northwood School) and Beaubien made 17 and 13 saves, respectively, for the Cardinals, while junior goaltender Katie McCoy turned aside 15 shots in the win for the Golden Gusties.