PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The No. 4 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team clinched the Northeast Women's Hockey League's (NEWHL's) regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the NEWHL Tournament for the fifth consecutive year, using a power-play goal by sophomore defenseman Mattie Norton (Glen Carbon, Ill./St. Louis Lady Blues) late in the third period to edge SUNY Cortland, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. The Cardinals extended their winning streak to 12 with the victory.
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 4 in the DCU/USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-15 Poll.
Norton scored on the power play with 5:54 left in the third period to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game. Graduate student forward Sara Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones) took a shot that went wide before Norton collected the rebound along the back wall. Norton skated back out in front and passed to senior defenseman Sierra Benjamin (Palm Coast, Fla./Northwood School) on the point, and Benjamin skated to her right to pass D-to-D to Norton. Norton skated into the high slot and took a shot that beat the goalie glove side.
After an icing call gave Cortland an offensive-zone face-off with 1:15 remaining, the Red Dragons called timeout and ultimately pulled their goalie in favor of the extra attacker before the ensuing face-off. Plattsburgh State kept Cortland from mounting any serious scoring threats down the stretch, holding on for the one-goal win.
Plattsburgh State rises to 20-2-0 overall (14-1-0 NEWHL) with the win and next hosts SUNY Canton on Friday, Feb. 11, at 3 p.m. in its regular-season home finale on Senior Day. Cortland falls to 15-6-0 overall (10-4-0 NEWHL) with the loss and next visits Oswego State on Friday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m.
For the second time this weekend, Cortland scored the opening goal, as first-year forward Fanny Aneborn scored at 11:12 of the first period. First-year defenseman Kayla Persinger sent a stretch pass ahead to Aneborn in the neutral zone, and Aneborn used strong stickhandling to elude a Cardinal skater and score high glove side.
Senior forward Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich University) tied the game at 17:55 of the first period, just nine seconds after a Red Dragon penalty ended. Junior forward Ciara Wall (Stoneham, Mass./University of New Hampshire) passed to senior defenseman Kendall Wasik (Novi, Mich./HoneyBaked) on the point, and Wasik took a shot that Masotta deflected past the goalie.
Neither team scored in the second period, while it took 14:06 of play in the third period for someone to break the deadlock.
The Cardinals doubled up the Red Dragons in shots on goal, 44-22, and went 1-for-4 on the power play. Cortland was scoreless in one chance with the skater advantage.
Graduate student goaltender Ashley Davis (Winterville, N.C./Northwood School) made 21 saves in the win for Plattsburgh State, while sophomore goaltender Molly Goergen turned aside 42 shots in the loss for Cortland.