Being the fourth seed in this year's State University of New York Athletic Conference Tournament wasn't what the Plattsburgh State men's hockey team was looking for heading into the 2010-11 season.
But, it could have been worse had it not been for what happened last weekend in Morrisville.
The Mustangs had a golden opportunity to be home in the opening round of the SUNYAC Tournament, but dropped home games to Buffalo State (3-0) and Fredonia (6-5 in overtime) to fall to No. 5.
Morrisville's loss was Plattsburgh State's gain as the Cardinals (17-1-1, 9-7) jumped ahead of the Mustangs (11-12-1, 8-7-1) in the standings will host Morrisville tonight at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals at the Stafford Ice Arena.
"There are a lot of good teams in our conference and our record is indicative of that," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "But, I wouldn't have thought we were going to lose four conference games at home this season.
"It's really nice to be home in the opening round because if you're successful in the the first game, you move on to the road. If you were at home for the first game, you would have to go right back on the road.
"We had our best crowd at the Potsdam game and we're hoping the students come out to make it a great atmosphere."
The other quarterfinal has No. 3 seed Buffalo State (12-10-3, 8-5-3) entertaining No. 6 seed Fredonia (12-12-1, 7-8-1). Top-seeded Oswego (22-3, 13-1) and second-seeded Geneseo (16-7-2, 10-5-1) have first-round byes.
The Cardinals and Mustangs split regular season meetings, with Caylin Relkoff's goaltending preserving Morrisville's 3-2 win in Plattsburgh on Nov. 13. Plattsburgh State then skated to a 6-2 victory in Morrisville on Feb. 5.
The Cardinals closed out their regular season last Friday with a 9-2 home win over Potsdam.
Plattsburgh State has 11 players with 10 points or more, led by Eric Satim (12-19-31), Dylan Clarke (16-13-29), Kyle Kudroch (11-9-20) and Patrick Jobb (10-9-19).
Either Josh Leis (14-4-1, 2.44 gaa) or Ryan Williams (3-2-0, 2.45 gaa) will get the call between the pipes tonight.
"We have to keep the puck out of our net and play good defense," said Emery. "We have to be prepared to win the game, 1-0. It may not end up 1-0, but we have to ready for it.
"Morrisville has given us a tough time here and we have to be better now. This is the time of the year where we can't have any mental lapses. There's no tomorrow if we lose."
The Mustangs have 10 players with 10 points or more, led by Tyler Swan (9-13-22), Bobby Cass (8-12-20) and Geoff Matzel (12-7-19).
Relkoff (9-12-1, 3.63 gaa) has been a mainstay in net for Morrisville. And, while his statistics don't look overly impressive, he is capable of beating anyone — as evidenced by the Mustang's 5-2 win at Oswego where Relkoff made 37 saves.
That was Oswego's only loss in SUNYAC regular season play.
"Their goalie is the foundation of their team," said Emery. "He can get hot and into a rhythm. We have to be ready to play because he's capable of beating anyone in the country. Their win over Oswego shows that.
"Morrisville beat us at our own rink this year and they're coming in here with a lot of confidence, knowing they can beat us."
The SUNYAC Tournament semifinals will be held Saturday, with Oswego and Geneseo being the home teams.
It should be noted that if Buffalo State and Plattsburgh State, the two higher seeds in the quarterfinals, both win, the Bengals will be at Geneseo and the Cardinals at Oswego.
But, if Plattsburgh State wins and Buffalo State loses to Fredonia, Oswego would host the lowest remaining seed, which would be the Blue Devils, and the Cardinals would go to Geneseo.
