NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Sophomore defenseman Mattie Norton (Glen Carbon, Ill./St. Louis Lady Blues) scored the game-winning goal with 6.9 seconds left in overtime, helping lift the No. 4 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team to a 3-2 win over No. 8 Elmira College in the Norwich East/West Hockey Classic opener on Saturday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 4 in the DCU/USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-15 Poll, while Elmira is ranked at No. 8.
Norton, who has developed a reputation for scoring big goals late in games, also scored the game-tying goal for the Cardinals with 18.9 seconds left in regulation against Norwich University on Nov. 15, a contest in which Plattsburgh State wound up winning, 5-4, in overtime.
The Cardinals had several high-quality scoring chances during the 3-on-3 overtime frame, and Norton's goal prevented what would have gone in the books as a tie before a shootout would have been conducted to determine who would advance to the championship game. Graduate student forward Nicole Unsworth (Milwaukee, Wis./East Coast Wizards) sent a pass ahead to senior forward Ivy Boric (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) in the neutral zone, and Boric had two Soaring Eagle skaters surround her on the right point. Boric sent a short pass to Norton on the right point, and Norton scored on a wrist shot at the top of the right circle.
Plattsburgh State rises to 10-2-0 overall with the win and faces a tough test in the championship game tomorrow, taking on 10-0-0 and third-ranked Adrian College at 4 p.m. After Saturday's loss by previously unbeaten Gustavus Adolphus College, Adrian sits atop the Division III PairWise rankings, which are ultimately used to select and help seed the NCAA Division III Tournament. Elmira drops to 9-3-0 overall with the loss and takes on host Norwich in the consolation game tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Elmira got on the board first, as first-year forward Alayna Toole scored unassisted at 14:37 of the first period. Toole picked off a Cardinal pass along the back wall in Plattsburgh State's zone, and she scored blocker side on the backhand.
After a scoreless second period, the Cardinals took a 3-2 lead early in the third thanks to two power-play goals. Junior forward Mae Olshansky (Wilmette, Ill./North American Hockey Academy) tied the game at 2:46 of the third, lifting a backhand shot over the blocker of the Elmira goaltender from the inside hash marks of the left circle. Senior defenseman Sierra Benjamin (Palm Coast, Fla./Northwood School) and Norton earned assists on the score. At 5:04 of the third, senior forward Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich University) made it a 2-1 game. Senior defenseman Kendall Wasik (Novi, Mich./HoneyBaked) took a shot from the right point that was saved, and the rebound bounced out in front of the crease. Junior forward Ciara Wall (Stoneham, Mass./University of New Hampshire) fought through traffic in the slot and got a pass over to Masotta on the weak side, and Masotta took advantage of a sprawled-out goaltender and backhanded a shot past the goal line.
The Soaring Eagles tied the game at 2-all with 3:19 left in the third. Sophomore defenseman Katie Manning passed D-to-D to junior defenseman Madi Morton, and Morton took a shot from the left point that sophomore defenseman Elizabeth LePage redirected through the five-hole.
Plattsburgh State finished the game 2-for-4 on the power play and is now 6-for-9 with the extra skater against Elmira so far this season. The Soaring Eagles were scoreless on one power-play chance. Elmira finished with a 33-29 edge in shots on goal.
Senior goaltender Lilla Nease (Lake Forest, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) made 31 saves in the win for the Cardinals, while sophomore goaltender Leonie-Louise Kuehberger turned aside 26 shots in the loss for the Soaring Eagles.