Cadets eager to make amends for PrimeLink Shootout setback
The Plattsburgh State Cardinals hit the low point of their season on Nov. 16 with a 6-2 home loss to Buffalo State.
Since then, however, the Cardinals have rattled off seven wins in a row to improve to 9-4 overall.
Perhaps the biggest victory came on Nov. 27 when the Cardinals rallied for a 3-2 decision over then No. 1 Norwich University in the championship game of the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout at the Stafford Ice Arena.
"The win over Fredonia (4-2) was the turning point in our season, but beating a great team like Norwich was a big win for us," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery.
The Cadets (6-3-1) will be looking for revenge tonight at 7 when the two get together for the second time this season at the Stafford Ice Arena.
"They will be coming in here with some vengeance after having already lost to us once this year," said Emery. "They will be pumped up and sky high. We will need to play our best hockey.
"Norwich has a lot of players back from its national championship team and they're coming in here to win. It's going to be an exciting game and the fans will get their money's worth."
Plattsburgh State is coming off this past weekend's championship in the Cardinal Classic where it skated to a 7-1 win over Curry on Friday and then a 2-1 victory over Neumann in a great hockey game on Saturday.
"We kept our opponents to two goals total over the weekend," said Emery. "And, you're going to win a lot of hockey games when you do that."
Emery says keeping the puck out of the Cardinals' net has resulted in the winning streak.
"We hit rock bottom against Buffalo State," he said. "It was just a matter of getting our confidence in the offensive end and doing well in the defensive end.
"We had to re-adjust to keeping the puck out of our net. And, we have been doing that."
The Cardinals allowed four goals in a 7-4 victory over St. John's in the opening round of the PrimeLink Tournament.
But, in the six other games during the winning streak, Plattsburgh State has allowed two goals twice and one goal four other times. In fact, the Cardinals have not allowed more than one goal in the past four contests.
Norwich, however, will put that to the test.
The Cadets, the first time they played the Cardinals, sported a 3-0 record at the time and were ranked No. 1 in the country in Division III.
But, things have changed some for the Cadets, who entered last weekend ranked fourth.
Norwich is 3-3-1 in its last seven games. The Cadets skated to a 3-2 victory over Nichols in the opening round of their Northfield Bank Tournament this past weekend, but dropped a 5-1 decision to Manhattanville in the championship game.
Up until the Manhattanville contest, no team had scored more than three goals in a game against the Cadets.
Norwich is getting good offensive production from sophomore Scott Schroeder (7-9-16), freshman Travis Janke (7-8-15) and sophomore Pier-Olivier Cotnoir (6-8-14).
Sophomore Alex Dubois is 6-3-1, with a 1.85 gaa, between the pipes.
After tonight's non-conference game, the Cardinals continue their 10-game homestand on Saturday versus Elmira College in another non-conference affair.
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