"Going in, I wasn't sure if we could outscore them," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "But, I knew we could outplay them. We proved we could play with them tonight, but in the end, we need to find a way to win.
"I give the guys credit for working hard. But, we need better leadership and mental toughness."
When Jon Whitelaw gave the Lakers a 3-1 advantage at 5:53 of the second, that was it for Cardinals' starting goaltender Josh Leis, who was replaced by Ryan Williams.
"He (Leis) didn't make any of the saves when he had to," Emery said. "At the time, it was 3-1 and I could see the team getting down. That's when I decided to replace him.
"But, this is the first time all year our starting goaltending wasn't what it needed to be."
"I've never seen us get as many too many men on the ice penalties as we have this season," Emery said. "The second one tonight came at the wrong time for us."
The Lakers played undisciplined hockey at times and gave the Cardinals their share of chances on the powerplay where Plattsburgh State went zero-for-seven.
"Our powerplay worked really well — we worked the puck really well and had plenty of chances," Emery said. "But, we didn't finish and that's a lot of the same stuff we've had this year."
The Cardinals also hit the post and crossbar in the second period.
"We've had a lot of adversity this year," Emery said. "We do, however, have to be more mentally tough.
"This is the end of the toughest month I can remember, but we need to bounce back against Middlebury on Tuesday. That's a big game for us."
