MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The No. 3 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team recorded its third overtime victory of the season, coming from behind to knock off defending NCAA Division III champion and seventh-ranked Middlebury College, 2-1, in non-conference action on Tuesday evening at Chip Kenyon '85 Arena.
 
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 3 in the DCU/USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-15 Poll, while Middlebury is ranked at No. 7.
 
Senior defenseman Sierra Benjamin (Palm Coast, Fla./Northwood School) scored the game-winning goal with 1:55 left in overtime. Graduate student forward Sara Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones) played the puck forward to senior forward Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich University) in the neutral zone, and Masotta backhanded a pass back to Benjamin. Benjamin skated into the left circle and wristed a shot past the goaltender low glove side.
 
The Cardinals finished with a 28-23 edge in shots on goal and were scoreless on one power-play opportunity. The Panthers did not go on the power play during the contest.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 12-2-0 overall with the win and next hosts Oswego State in Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) action on Friday, Jan. 13, at 3 p.m. Middlebury falls to 6-4-1 overall with the loss and next visits No. 9 Colby College on Friday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m.
 
The best chance the Cardinals had in the first two periods came 2:38 into the second. Sophomore forward Riley Calhoun (New Hartford, N.Y./Bishop Kearney Selects) forced a turnover in the neutral zone and found herself in a one-on-one with the goalie, but her backhanded shot was turned away by a sprawled-out first-year goaltender Sophia Will.
 
Middlebury broke the scoreless deadlock at 7:29 of the third period. Sophomore defenseman Sabrina Kim took a shot from the point that was blocked, and first-year forward Avery McInerny sent a shot toward the goal that senior goaltender Lilla Nease (Lake Forest, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) turned away with a pad save. First-year forward Britt Nawrocki took control of the rebound in the slot and scored on the back hand.
 
Plattsburgh State tied the score at 16:16 of the third, just six seconds after Middlebury called a timeout. Junior forward Ciara Wall (Stoneham, Mass./University of New Hampshire) won an offensive-zone face-off over to graduate student forward Nicole Unsworth (Milwaukee, Wis./East Coast Wizards), who passed back to sophomore defenseman Mattie Norton (Glen Carbon, Ill./St. Louis Lady Blues) on the left point. Norton passed D-to-D to Benjamin, and Benjamin took a shot from the right point that Unsworth redirected into the goal.
 
Nease made 22 saves in the win for the Cardinals, while Will turned aside 26 shots in the loss for the Panthers.