The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team couldn't have played much better Saturday night.
But, the Cardinals still came up short against top-ranked Oswego when Luke Moodie's power-play goal at 9:41 of the third period gave the Lakers a 4-3 victory in State University of New York Athletic Conference play at the Stafford Ice Arena.
Oswego, beating the Cardinals for the fifth time in a row, improved to 12-0 in the conference and 19-2-0 overall, while the Cardinals, who dropped a 2-0 contest to Cortland the night before, are now 6-6 in the SUNYAC and 13-6-1 overall.
Plattsburgh State doubled Oswego in shots on goal, 38-19, but didn't have the edge on the scoreboard where it mattered the most.
"In my 23 years of coaching, I can't remember a time when we played pretty well in back-to-back games like this and didn't win either game," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery.
"Good teams find a way to win. And, right now, we're finding ways to lose. But, I'm still proud of the guys."
The Cardinals and Lakers were tied, at 2-all, entering the third period.
But, Plattsburgh State grabbed a 3-2 advantage on Ryan Craig's power-play goal at 3:41. Vick Schlueter's shot from the side was deflected to Craig, who beat Oswego goalie Paul Beckwith straight on.
The Lakers, however, tied it at the 8:22 mark while being a little fortunate in the process.
Jon Whitelaw got behind the Cardinal defense and went in alone on goalie Josh Leis. Leis made the save, but a Plattsburgh State defenseman, skating back on the play, slid into Leis and knocked the puck loose and just over the line.
Then, just over a minute later, Moodie scored a power-play goal on a tip-in for the game-winner.
"We had a senior take a bad penalty and they were able to score the go-ahead goal," said Emery.
Thoughts of a Plattsburgh State comeback were put in jeopardy with 4:50 remaining when the Cardinals were hit for a five-minute penalty for contact to the head.
But, Oswego was whistled for a too many men on the ice penalty with 1:43 left and Leis was pulled for an extra attacker. The Cardinals, however, weren't able to get the equalizer.
Schlueter, who played a strong game, gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead in the first period with two power-play goals.
The first came on a rebound from the side at 3:26 and the second was nearly from the same spot just inside the near post at the 11:26 mark
But, Oswego cut its deficit in half at the 17:35 mark. Chris Laganiere sent a shot from just beyond the faceoff circle up top to beat Leis.
The Lakers then tied it at 5:58 of the second when an Oswego shot bounced off the boards and in front to Chris Muise, who scored a power-play from in close.
Plattsburgh State nearly took the lead later in the period when a shot was ruled to have hit the post along the ice and bounced out.
"It was a controversial non-goal call on a shot by Dylan Clarke," said Emery. "We looked at the tape and it was a good goal. But, we can't make excuses."
Beckwith finished with 35 saves in net for the Lakers to remain unbeaten in goal this season. Leis stopped 15 shots for the Cardinals.
"We just have to keep working hard," said Emery. "We still have to fine tune some things and we need to get a little better leadership."
The Cardinals are back at it on Tuesday at the Stafford Ice Arena when they close out their 10-game homestand with a big non-conference game with Middlebury.