Mathieu Cadieux kept the puck out of Plattsburgh State’s net for 48 minutes and 17 seconds Friday before Fredonia got one past him.
Saturday, he finished off the shutout.
The senior goaltender made 24 saves as the Cardinals beat Buffalo State 2-0 in SUNY Athletic Conference men’s hockey at Stafford Ice Arena.
“I thought we were good at times and bad at times. And when we were bad at times, it’s good to have an All-American goalie like Cadieux,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said. “He was super (Saturday). He makes it look easy a lot, but you gotta know the game to know without him, we don’t win that game (Saturday).”
The Cardinals (18-3-2, 11-1-2 SUNYAC) needed just 26 seconds to pull ahead of the Bengals. Michael Radisa scored with assists from Michael Cassidy and Barry Roytman.
“To get a goal early against a team that’s so good defensively was huge,” Cadieux said. “I think that gave us a little bit of confidence that we could get one that early on them.”
But Emery thought the quick goal made the sixth-ranked Cardinals think things were going to be easy all night. He said they let up a little bit and were passive offensively at times.
Five minutes into the second period, Luke Baleshta was assessed a major for grasping the facemask after some pushing and shoving in front of the Buffalo State net. The Cardinals killed off most of the penalty, and then the Bengals(9-9-4, 6-4-3) got whistled, making it 4-on-4.
“They were unbelievable in front of me,” Cadieux said of the penalty killers. “I’m pretty sure on the five-minute major I may have only had one shot on net. There was a lot of blocked shots, a lot of forcing them wide. And a lot of times they didn’t even let them get set up, which was great.”
Late in the period, Alex Jensen wrapped around the net and slipped the puck in the open right corner for a 2-0 cushion.
Emery noted that the Bengals came at Plattsburgh in the last 10 minutes of the game, forechecking hard. To makes things tougher on the Cardinals, they were missing blueliner Nick Jensen, who got hurt earlier in the game.
“People don’t realize when you go from six D to five, it’s not just like losing one. It’s a huge drop in numbers,” Emery said. “And it really showed; our defense was getting really tired during the game.”
The coach said Nick Jensen “banged his knee.” Radisa, a forward, had to be helped off the ice early in the third after he was hit hard in the corner. He did not return, and Emery did not have an update after the game.
The Cardinals don’t play next weekend, and Emery said the timing of the bye week is perfect, adding that besides Saturday’s injuries, several other players are banged up.
Kevin Carr made 29 saves for Buffalo State. The Bengals were without their top two scorers, Dan Turgeon and Mike Zannella, as well as defenseman Jason Cleaver. All three received disqualification penalties Friday night against Potsdam.
The Cardinals wore green jerseys with white shamrocks on them. The jerseys were auctioned after the game, with proceeds going to Hockey Coaches Care, a charity that helps members of the hockey community who are affected by illness, injury or other hardships. Emery hoped to raise $5,000 and said the donation would be made in memory of Paula Roll, the late wife of current Nazareth coach and former Oswego coach George Roll.
The Cardinals wore camouflage jerseys for one game last year, and Emery said they were looking for another theme.
“We don’t play (regular-season games) into March, but it’s pretty close to now,” he said. “I’m not a guy that’s going to come out with Valentine’s jerseys next week, so shamrock it was. And hopefully it will bring a lot of money for a great cause.”
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Plattsburgh State 2, Buffalo State 0
Buffalo State 0 0 0 — 0
Plattsburgh 1 1 0 — 0
First period- 1, PSU, Radisa (Cassidy, Roytman), 0:26. Penalties: Salkeld, Buff (interference), 6:40. N. Jensen, PSU (interference), 7:23. Farnan, PSU (contact to the head), 13:24.
Second period- 2, PSU, A. Jensen (Fox, Baleshta), 15:43. Penalties: Baleshta, PSU (grasping the face mask), 5:01. Kramer, Buff (hooking), 8:25. Lapierre, Buff (holding), 18:24.
Third period- Penalties: Gorman, PSU (hooking), 2:38. Schiro, Buff (roughing), 13:20. Fox, PSU (roughing), 13:20. A. Jensen, PSU (hitting from behind), 14:20. Kramer, Buff (tripping), 15:13.
Shots on goal:
Buffalo State 4 9 11 — 24
Plattsburgh 8 11 12 — 31
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Carr, Buff, 31-29. Cadieux, PSU, 24-24.
Power play (goals-opportunities): Buffalo State 0-5, Plattsburgh 0-4.
Attendance: 2,107.
Email Courtney Lewis:clewis@pressrepublican.com Twitter: @sportsCourt
