MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – Head coach Kevin Houle earned his 450th career victory and graduate student forward Sara Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones) recorded her 100th career point following three assists, as the No. 3 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team kicked off its 2022-23 regular season and Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) schedule with a 6-1 victory over SUNY Morrisville on Friday afternoon at the IcePlex.
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 3 in the DCU/USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-15 Poll.
Junior forward Mae Olshansky (Wilmette, Ill./North American Hockey Academy) scored two goals and added an assist, while senior defenseman Sierra Benjamin (Palm Coast, Fla./Northwood School) scored a goal and distributed two assists.
The Cardinals owned a 56-18 edge in shots on goal while going 3-for-5 on the power play. Morrisville went 1-for-3 with the extra skater.
Plattsburgh State rises to 1-0-0 overall (1-0-0 NEWHL) with the win, while Morrisville falls to 0-2-1 (0-1-0 NEWHL) with the loss. The two teams wrap up the weekend series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
Olshansky fired the opening salvo 4:04 into the contest, scoring on the power play. Krauseneck took a shot that was saved before Olshansky banged in the rebound. Benjamin earned the secondary assist on the play.
At 7:52 of the first period, the Mustangs leveled the score by netting a goal on the power play. Junior forward Alana McDonald fed sophomore forward Pippy Pritchard on the left point, and Pritchard found junior forward Rhys Brown in the right circle. Brown took advantage of a screen in front of the goalie, scoring high glove side with a wrist shot.
Less than two minutes later, first-year defenseman Aizah Thompson (Williamsville, N.Y./Buffalo Bisons) netted her first collegiate goal to give the Cardinals a lead they would not relinquish. Graduate student forward Holly Schmelzer (East Amherst, N.Y./Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles) backhanded the puck into the right corner, and sophomore forward Riley Calhoun (New Hartford, N.Y./Bishop Kearney Selects) gained possession from behind the goal line. Calhoun passed to Thompson on the point, who scored high blocker side.
Olshansky netted her second goal of the game at the 13:30 mark of the first period, as Krauseneck carried the puck on the rush and took a shot that was saved before Olshansky poked it in after the goaltender was unable to freeze it to stop play.
Senior forward Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich University) netted her first goal in a Cardinal sweater with 30 seconds remaining in the first period. After Plattsburgh State won an offensive-zone face-off, Krauseneck passed back to Benjamin on the right point, and Benjamin ripped a slap shot that Masotta redirected into the goal.
Graduate student forward Nicole Unsworth's (Milwaukee, Wis./East Coast Wizards) 99th career point came on a power-play goal at 17:32 of the second period. Senior defenseman Kendall Wasik (Novi, Mich./HoneyBaked) sent a short pass along the right boards in the offensive zone to Masotta, and Masotta fed Unsworth on the left point. Unsworth wound up and fired a slap shot that deflected off the shoulder of a Morrisville defender and beat the goaltender high glove side.
Benjamin closed out scoring in the contest at 9:59 of the third period, tallying on the power play. Benjamin took a shot that clanged off the crossbar, and the rebound squirted out to Olshansky in the left circle. Olshansky sent a one-time shot back toward the net that got caught up in traffic, and after senior forward Ivy Boric (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) got the blade of her stick on the puck, Benjamin scored high glove side.
Senior goaltender Lilla Nease (Lake Forest, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) made 17 saves in the victory for the Cardinals, while sophomore goaltender Emma Plett turned aside 50 shots in the loss for the Mustangs.