BUFFALO, N.Y. – No. 1 Plattsburgh State women's hockey opened up its 2019-20 regular season with a 5-0 win over Buffalo State in Northeastern Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) play on Friday afternoon at Buffalo State Ice Arena.
 
Plattsburgh State (1-0-0, 1-0-0 NEWHL), which outshot Buffalo State (0-1-0, 0-1-0 NEWHL) 39-14 in the game, scored two goals in the first period, two goals in the second period and one goal in the third period for the 5-0 win over Buffalo State.
 
Junior forward Annie Katonka (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Penguins Elite), who led NCAA Division III women's ice hockey with 31 goals scored in 2018-19, got the scoring started with her first goal of the season at 7:23 of the first period. After an initial shot from freshman forward Ivy Boric (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) was saved, Katonka skated around the back of the net and scored on a wraparound through the goaltender's five-hole to make the score 1-0.
 
The Cardinals would score their second goal of game on the power play at 13:53 of the first period when sophomore forward Sarah Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones) took a close-range wrist shot that beat the goaltender on the glove-side. Senior defenseman Hannah Kiraly (Glendale, Ariz./Northern Cyclones) and junior defenseman Erin McArdle (Macomb, Mich./Belle Tire) assisted on the play.   
 
In the second period, Plattsburgh State increased its lead to 3-0 when senior forward Sarah Wolf (Fairport, N.Y./Boston Shamrocks Elite) scored at the 7:25 mark. Junior forward Kaitlin Drew-Mead (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Buffalo Bisons) skated with the puck from the right corner around the back of the net and fed a pass in front to Wolf, who quickly released a low shot for the goal.
 
Sophomore forward Taylor Whitney (Livonia, Mich./Little Caesars) would score both the Cardinals' fourth and fifth goals of the game to make the final score 5-0. Whitney's first goal was scored unassisted at 13:50 of the second period when she dispossessed a Bengal player of the puck behind the Bengals' net and scored on a wraparound. Whitney's second goal came on a Cardinal power play at 9:32 of the third period. She got the puck behind the goal line on the right side of the Buffalo State goal, skated just over the goal line and fired a narrow-angled wrist shot over the goaltender's shoulder along the near post and into the upper-left corner of the net. Katonka and McArdle both assisted on the play.
 
Sophomore netminder Ashley Davis (Winterville, N.C./Northwood School) (1-0-0) made 14 saves to earn her first collegiate victory and shutout for the Cardinals. Bri Gawronski (0-1-0) stopped 34 shots in goal for the Bengals.
 
Plattsburgh State finished 2-of-7 on the power play and Buffalo State was 0-of-4.
 
Plattsburgh State and Buffalo State conclude their two-game NEWHL series tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. at Buffalo State Ice Arena.