WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Graduate student forward Sara Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones) scored twice, as the No. 4 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team held off Williams College, 2-1, in its final non-conference game of the regular season Tuesday evening at Lansing Chapman Rink. With the win, the Cardinals extended their winning streak to eight.
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 4 in the DCU/USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-15 Poll.
The Cardinals finished with a 53-24 edge in shots on goal and went 1-for-3 on the power play. The Ephs were scoreless in three chances with the extra skater.
Plattsburgh State rises to 16-2-0 overall with the win and next visits SUNY Canton on Friday, Jan. 27, at 3 p.m. Williams falls to 9-8-0 overall with the loss and next hosts Trinity (Conn.) College on Friday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m.
Krauseneck's power-play goal at 11:57 of the first period kicked off scoring. Sophomore defenseman Mattie Norton (Glen Carbon, Ill./St. Louis Lady Blues) passed D-to-D to senior defenseman Sierra Benjamin (Palm Coast, Fla./Northwood School), and Benjamin passed to junior forward Mae Olshansky (Wilmette, Ill./North American Hockey Academy) in the slot. Olshansky took a shot that got caught up in traffic before Krauseneck banged in a loose puck on the doorstep.
Krauseneck made it a 2-0 game 5:00 into the second period. First-year defenseman Aizah Thompson (Williamsville, N.Y./Buffalo Bisons) intercepted a Williams clearing attempt at the blue line and sent a short pass to Krauseneck along the left boards. Krauseneck then took a shot from the outside hash marks of the left circle, scoring blocker side. It marked Thompson's first collegiate assist.
Williams' senior forward Maddie Tix cut the deficit in half at 11:47 of the second. Tix stole a puck in the neutral zone, skated into offensive zone herself and eluded five Cardinal skaters to score bar down over the goalie's blocker-side shoulder.
With less than 40 seconds left in regulation and the Eph goalie pulled, senior forward Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich University) forced a turnover at the offensive blue line and was tripped up skating toward the empty net. While a two-minute minor was assessed, the referees did not award Masotta the goal. Plattsburgh State kept the puck in Williams' zone the remainder of the contest on the power play to hold on for the 2-1 win.
Senior goaltender Lilla Nease (Lake Forest, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) made 23 saves in the win for the Cardinals, while sophomore goaltender Amanda Lackmann turned aside 51 shots in the loss for the Ephs.