ROCHESTER — The Plattsburgh State women's hockey team wasn't playing in the game it was hoping for Saturday.
But the Cardinals put their disappointment aside and pulled out an exciting 4-3 overtime victory over Gustavus Adolphus in the NCAA Division III third-place game at Frank Ritter Arena.
Both the Cardinals and Gusties played a spirited game after losing in overtime to RIT and Norwich, respectively, the day before in the national semifinals.
RIT claimed the championship in Saturday's second contest.
In the third-place game, Teal Gove forced overtime for Plattsburgh (20-7-3) with nine seconds left in the third period, and Justine Fisher won it with 2:51 gone in the extra session.
The Cardinals also sent seniors Fisher, Erika Shaubel, Helen Giroux and Kylie Klassen out with a win in their final game.
Plattsburgh took a 2-1 lead into the third period.
The Gusties, however, tied it with 9:19 gone in the third. Carolyn Craayer got the puck between the circles, turned and beat Plattsburgh goalie Sydney Aveson.
Plattsburgh nearly regained the lead with 5:30 left in regulation, but Gustavus Adolphus netminder Danielle Justice stopped Jordan Caldwell on a breakaway.
The Cardinals, who were called for five penalties in the game as opposed to only one for Gustavus Adolphus, were whistled for an interference penalty with 1:33 remaining, and the Gusties (24-4-2) took advantage. Leading scorer Allie Schwab sent the puck into the net from straight on to give her team a 3-2 lead and what appeared to be a victory.
But the Cardinals pulled Aveson for an extra attacker in the final minutes, and Gove tallied with nine seconds remaining to pull Plattsburgh even. Giroux sent in a shot that bounced directly down off the post and Gove was stationed on the side of the net to tap it in.
In the 5-minute overtime, Plattsburgh had possession of the puck when it was deflected to the far side of the net, where Fisher was all alone to slide it into the open net. Caldwell and Chelsea VanGlahn assisted.
Neither team scored in the first period despite both taking 13 shots on goal.
The Cardinals had a golden opportunity to take the lead 20 seconds in when Justice stopped VanGlahn on a breakaway.
Plattsburgh, which got off to a strong start, withstood two penalties later in the stanza and also a Gracie Olson breakaway late in the period that was ruled no goal.
The Cardinals started quickly again in the second and took the lead with 1:24 gone in the period. The puck got loose in front of the Gustavus Adolphus net and Klassen tucked it into the far side.
Plattsburgh then made it 2-0 at the 8:42 mark off some tremendous pressure in the Gusties' end. Gustavus Adolphus couldn't get the puck out of their zone for what seemed to be an eternity before defensman Allison Era beat Justice to her glove side from the point.
The Gusties, who had four power plays in the first two periods as opposed to none for the Cardinals, cut their deficit in half at 10:25. Lindsey Hjelm's shot deflected off a Plattsburgh defensman and past Aveson for a power-play goal.
The Cardinals preserved their 1-goal lead by killing off a penalty that started with 52 seconds left in the second and carried over into the third.
Gustavus Adolphus finished with a 39-35 advantage in shots on goal. Aveson, who had a strong post season for the Cardinals, stopped 36 of 39 shots. Justice made 31 saves 35 shots for the Gusties, who had as many losses over the weekend as they did up until then.
Championship RIT 4, Norwich 3
Kourtney Kunichika scored a goal and assisted on three others as top-ranked and host RIT captured its first Division III women's hockey national title in the only game this weekend that didn't go into overtime.
Celeste Brown added a goal and two assists for the Tigers (28-1-1), who scored three third-period goals after the two teams entered the period tied at 1-all.
Brown gave RIT a 2-1 lead just 1:23 into the third. Kunichika made it 3-1 at 8:39, and Ali Hills closed out the scoring at the 11:59 mark.
Laura Chamberlain stopped 27-of-28 shots in net for the Tigers.
RIT's Kristina Moss opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 9:06 of the first period before Jacqueline Perez answered for the Cadets (27-3-1) at the 14:47 mark.
The opening stanza was filled with penalties, seven in all, and Norwich failed to take advantage of some power-play opportunities.
The Tigers, who were outshot by a 13-8 margin in the first, outgunned the Cadets by a 12-4 edge in a scoreless second.
Kelly Fisk stopped 28-of-32 shots in the Norwich nets.
The Tigers gained revenge for a 5-2 loss last year to the Cadets in the national title contest.
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Third-place game
Plattsburgh 4,
Gustavus Adolphus 3, OT
Score by periods:
Plattsburgh 0 2 1 1 — 4
Gustavus Adolphus 0 1 2 0 — 3
First period- no scoring.
Second period- 1, PSU, Klassen (Rutherford, Kistner), 1:24. 2, PSU, Era (Kistner, Favretto), 8:42.
3, GA, Hjelm ppg (Carroll, Schwab), 10:25.
Third period- 4, GA, Craayer (Kennedy), 9:19. 5, GA, Schwab ppg (Cartony), 18:56. 6, PSU, Gove (Giroux), 19:51.
Overtime- 7, PSU, Fisher (Caldwell, VanGlahn), 2:51.
Shots on goal:
Plattsburgh 13 9 11 2 — 35
Gustavus Adolphus 13 11 14 1 — 39
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Aveson, PSU, 39-36. Justice, GA, 35-31
Power plays (goals-opportunities): Plattsburgh, 0-1. Gustavus Adolphus 2-5.
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Championship
RIT 4, Norwich 1
Score by periods:
Norwich 1 0 0 — 1
RIT 1 0 3 — 4
First period- 1, RIT, Moss ppg (Kunichika, Schlattman), 9:06. 2, Nor, Perez (Invernizzi, Guay), 14:47.
Second period- no scoring.
Third period- 3, RIT, Brown (Kunichika), 1:23. 4, RIT, Kunichika (Brown), 8:39. 5, RIT, Hills (Kunichika, Brown), 11:59.
Shots on goal:
Norwich 13 4 11 — 28
RIT 8 12 12 — 32
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Fisk, Nor, 32-28. Chamberlain, RIT, 28-27.
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