PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Senior forward Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich University) scored the overtime game-winning goal after sophomore defenseman Mattie Norton's (Glen Carbon, Ill./St. Louis Lady Blues) game-tying shorthanded goal with the extra attacker with 18.9 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime, as the No. 3 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team prevailed, 5-4, over No. 9 Norwich University on Tuesday evening at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena in non-conference action.
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 3 in the DCU/USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-15 Poll, while Norwich is ranked at No. 9.
Norwich scored two goals in a span of 28 seconds late in the third period to seize a 4-3 lead, and the Cardinals sustained a penalty with two minutes remaining.
Plattsburgh State was able to get the puck out of its zone in order to pull the goalie in favor of the extra attacker, and shortly after that happened, Masotta sent a pass to Norton on the point. Norton ripped a slap shot past the Norwich goalie high glove side to tie the game at 4-all.
Masotta's overtime game winner came with 1:37 left in the extra session. Junior forward Ciara Wall (Stoneham, Mass./University of New Hampshire) won a battle along the boards in the neutral zone, which sprung Masotta ahead along the right wing. She skated around a defender in the right circle before going bar down over the goalie's glove-side shoulder.
Plattsburgh State rises to 5-0-0 overall with the win and next hosts Buffalo State on Friday, Nov. 18, at 3 p.m. Norwich slips to 4-1-0 overall with the loss and next hosts Johnson & Wales University on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 4 p.m.
Norwich fired the opening salvo at the 12:44 mark of the first period. Junior forward Melianne Reynolds skated around the back of the goal from right to left and sent a pass to graduate student defenseman Morgan Tefft at the top of the right circle. Tefft ended up scoring high glove side on the short side to give the Cadets the early lead. Graduate student defenseman Emma O'Neill also earned an assist on the goal.
Junior forward Mae Olshansky (Wilmette, Ill./North American Hockey Academy) tied the game with 1:49 elapsed in the second period. Senior defenseman Kendall Wasik (Novi, Mich./HoneyBaked) passed to Olshansky to lead the Cardinals into the offensive zone, and Olshansky centered a pass to graduate student forward Sara Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones). Krauseneck took a shot from the slot that was saved before Olshansky pounded in the rebound.
At 4:06 of the second period, graduate student forward Nicole Unsworth (Milwaukee, Wis./East Coast Wizards) gave the Cardinals the lead. Senior forward Ivy Boric (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) sent a pass across the crease and found Unsworth on the weak side. Unsworth scored on a one-time shot high blocker side for her second goal of the year.
Norwich leveled the tally at 2-all with 9:12 gone in the second. Reynolds centered a pass to junior forward Ally LaGue, and LaGue placed a short touch pass to sophomore forward Taylor Girouard on the weak side. Girouard wound up scoring blocker side from the slot.
Krauseneck netted a go-ahead goal with 2:53 remaining in regulation to put Plattsburgh State out in front, 3-2. First-year defenseman Taya Balfour (Moorestown, N.J./Philadelphia Jr. Flyers) passed to Krauseneck at the top of the left circle, and Krauseneck skated to the bottom of the left circle before scoring over the goalie's blocker-side shoulder at a sharp angle.
Junior defenseman Nikki LaGue tied the game for Norwich just 25 seconds later, as Ally LaGue and Girouard helped win a battle along the boards before Nikki LaGue took a shot from the left point that deflected off a Cardinal defender and into the back of the net.
Girouard scored her second goal of the game at the 18:00 minute mark of the third period to put the Cadets up late. Reynolds sent a stretch pass to Girouard, and Girouard eluded a Cardinal defender in the right circle before scoring through the five-hole. O'Neill also earned an assist on the score.
Plattsburgh State finished with a 52-22 edge in shots on goal, while both teams were scoreless on the power play. The Cardinals were 0-for-3 with the extra skater, while the Cadets were 0-for-2.
Senior goaltender Lilla Nease (Lake Forest, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) made 18 saves in the win for Plattsburgh State, while junior goaltender Leocadia Clark turned aside 47 shots in the loss for Norwich.