PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – For the 10th consecutive season, the No. 2 Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team is headed to the NCAA Division III Tournament semifinals, as the Cardinals edged seventh-ranked and defending national champion Middlebury College, 4-2, in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. With the victory, the Cardinals extended their winning streak to 18 games.
Plattsburgh State is ranked at No. 2 in the DCU/USCHO.com Women's Division III Top-15 Poll, while Middlebury is ranked at No. 7.
The Cardinals finished with a 37-30 edge in shots on goal, but the Panthers challenged late, as Middlebury outshot Plattsburgh State, 11-6, in the third period. The Panthers were 1-for-1 on the power play, while the Cardinals were scoreless in their lone chance with the extra skater.
Graduate student forward Sara Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich./Northern Cyclones) extended her point streak to 11 games, as she recorded a goal and an assist in the final home game of her career. Graduate student forward Holly Schmelzer (East Amherst, N.Y./Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles), who also was playing in her final game at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena, tallied two assists, while senior forward Julia Masotta (Tewksbury, Mass./Norwich University) recorded two assists as well.
Plattsburgh State rises to 26-2-0 overall with the win and will meet up with top-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 17, at 3 p.m. at Amherst College's Orr Rink. Friday's game will serve as a rematch of last year's national semifinal, a game in which the Golden Gusties prevailed, 5-1. Middlebury finishes its season at 17-8-3 overall.
The Cardinals' third forward line provided the first goal of the game during their first shift on the ice 1:51 into the contest. Sophomore forward Riley Calhoun (New Hartford, N.Y./Bishop Kearney Selects) chipped a shot from the slot that Schmelzer poked out of a scrum along the right post and over to first-year forward Emma McLean (Burlington, Mass./Pomfret School) on the weak side. McLean took advantage of the Middlebury goalie being in front of the action on the opposite side of the goal, banging a shot into the open net.
Middlebury tied the score at 1-all on the power play at 9:47 of the first period. Senior defenseman Eva Hendrikson passed D-to-D to senior defenseman Claudia Vira on the left point, and Vira took advantage of traffic out in front to navigate a shot into the back of the net. Sophomore forward Raia Schluter also earned an assist on the goal.
Krauseneck scored her team-leading 20th goal of the season with 11:09 gone in the second. She forced a turnover on the forecheck in the Panthers' end, skated into the slot and used smooth stickhandling to place a shot past the outstretched Middlebury goalie.
With just 1:12 to go in the second period, senior forward Ivy Boric (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) scored an important insurance goal to the Cardinals' cause. Masotta poked the puck over to Krauseneck along the right goal line extended, and Krauseneck fed Boric with a short pass along the right post. Boric snuck the puck in between the right post and the goalie's left pad to make it a two-goal game.
Middlebury trimmed the gap to one with 6:01 gone in the third. Sophomore defenseman Sabrina Kim took a shot off an offensive-zone face-off win that graduate student goaltender Ashley Davis (Winterville, N.C./Northwood School) turned aside with a pad save. Senior forward Jenna Letterie collected the puck in the left corner and passed to first-year forward Britt Nawrocki in the left circle, who one-timed a shot through the five-hole.
The Panthers pulled their goalie with 1:21 left in regulation and got a few good looks, with Davis making a save and Krauseneck and Schmelzer each coming up with a blocked shot. The Cardinals put the game on ice, however, when graduate student forward Nicole Unsworth (Milwaukee, Wis./East Coast Wizards) scored an empty-net goal with seven seconds left. Masotta forced a turnover in the defensive zone and got a short pass to Schmelzer, and Schmelzer chipped the puck down the ice and won a footrace to gain possession in the left corner. She sent a pass out to Unsworth in front, and Unsworth buried a shot into the open net from the inside edge of the left circle.