LAKE PLACID — Plattsburgh State, as it has all season, battled to the end Friday night.
However, the Cardinals have had their problems putting the puck in the net against quality teams and that was more of the case against Norwich in the NCAA Division III Men's Hockey Tournament semifinals at the Herb Brooks Arena Friday night.
Steve Coon's goal midway through the third period proved to be the game-winner as the Cadets held off the Cardinals, 3-2, to advance to today's 5 p.m. national championship game against St. Norbert.
Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery was more disappointed with the three goals the Cardinals allowed.
"I've said all along we're a work in progress," he said. "Tonight, we played well enough to win and I felt we played our two best games of the season in the last two.
"We have two freshman goalies who lacked experience going into the season. But, they did a hell of a job for us all year. We knew going in that we had to keep the puck out of our net. We can't let two soft goals in — and we let two soft goals in tonight. But, our goalie (Josh Leis), on the other hand, made some great saves."
The Cadets (25-1-4) took a 1-0 lead at 5:24 of the first period. Craig Serino's high shot bounced off Leis, over his shoulder and rolled slowly over the line.
"I took a quick slapshot, it went off his blocker and I just stood and watched," Serino said. "It fell to the ice and trickled in."
"We played a good first period and I felt we could have had a couple of more goals," said Norwich head coach Mike McShane. "Their goalie (Leis) made some great saves."
But the Cardinals evened it 7:07 into the second off some good work behind the Norwich net. Andrew Willock took a pass in front and beat Norwich goalie Ryan Klingensmith.
The Cadets then got a big goal late in the second to move in front for good. Pier-Oliver Cotnoir skated just over the blue line and sent a bullet past Leis with just 56 seconds remaining in the period.
"I felt Plattsburgh State was outplaying us in the second period and that was a great shot," McShane said.
Plattsburgh State (19-6-4) pressed for the equalizer in the third, but it was Norwich that grabbed a 3-1 advantage at 8:09. Coon, who was stationed near the boards, scored on a shot that Leis would like to have back.
The Cardinals didn't quit and made it interesting when defenseman Mike Kavanagh got the puck straight on between the slots and pulled Plattsburgh State to within one at 13:30.
Leis then made a huge save later on to keep the Cardinals in it, but Plattsburgh State couldn't get the tieing goal.
"I thought we had a chance to tie it right up until the final buzzer," Emery said. "I thought our fitness showed in the third period.
"Our defense did a great job moving the puck. Their first goal was bad puck management on our part. But, I thought we battled back well and did a good job cycling tonight."
Norwich held a 35-31 advantage in shots on goal, with Klingensmith finishing with 29 saves and Leis, 32.
"We have a rivalry with Plattsburgh," Klingensmith. "When you don't like a team, you want to beat them even more than a regular game."
"Tonight, we had some great attacks," Emery said. "We had some good looks.
"We didn't get that big play tonight — that big goal we've gotten in the past. Norwich has six good defensemen — all with good size. I think their defense is No. 1 in the country."
"In the end, it just didn't go our way," said Plattsburgh State forward Dylan Clarke. "Late in the game, when you're down, you try to press a little more. We got some breaks on it, some turned out to be good scoring chances and some didn't."
The Cardinals went winless against the Cadets in three tries this season, losing one game in a shootout in the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout and two in regulation.
—
Norwich 3, Plattsburgh 2
Score by periods:
Plattsburgh 0 1 1 — 2
Norwich 1 1 1 — 3
First period- 1, Nor, Serino (Mulvey, Fimiani), 5:24. Penalties- Coon, Nor (interference), 7:52. Kudroch, PSU (interference), 9:35. Carpino, Nor (interference), 14:09. Wieland, PSU (holding), 18:07.
Second period- PSU, Willock (Satim, Clarke), 7:07. 3, Nor, Cotnoir (Serino), 19:04. Penalties- Corry, PSU (boarding), 8:04. Bell, Nor (tripping), 19:23.
Third period- 4, Nor, Coon, 8:09. 5, PSU, Cavanaugh (Bessing, Wieland), 13:30, Penalties- Kavanagh, PSU (hooking), 4:05. Eskedjian, Nor (tripping), 14:11. Willock, PSU (slashing), 15:12.
Shots on goal:
Plattsburgh 9 7 15 - 31
Norwich 10 16 9 - 35
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Leis, PSU, 35-32. Klingensmith, Nor, 31-29.
Power plays (goals-opportunities): Plattsburgh, 0-4. Norwich, 0-5.
just a thought... and no im not bringing anything to throw... not risking the chance of platty losing their National Championship
