With less than three minutes to play in regulation, the Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team lit the lamp twice in a span of 29 seconds, but the rally was too little, too late as the Cardinals suffered a 3-2 loss to Amherst in the championship game of the 2012 Buck Supply and Hynes Electric Cardinal Classic Tournament.
The nationally-ranked no. 11 Lord Jeffs (7-3-1, 4-2-0 NESCAC) held a 7-6 advantage in shots on goal after a scoreless first period Amherst broke through in the second, scoring all three of its goals in the middle stanza.
Brain Safstrom opened the scoring at the 1:39 mark of the second, lifting Andrew Kurlandski’s rebound over the leg of Plattsburgh goaltender Mathieu Cadieux. Mike Rowbotham also picked up an assist on Safstrom’s third of the year.
With Amherst on the power-play, Jake Turrin’s shot from the point found the back of the net at 7:18 to give the Lord Jeffs a 2-0 lead. Nick Brunette and Rowbotham added assists on Turrin’s first of the season.
Late in the period Cadieux made the initial stop on a shot by Amherst’s Conor Brown but Johnny Van Siclen was able to jam home the loose puck to stretch the lead to 3-0.
The no. 8 Cardinals had the better of the opportunities in the third period, outshooting Amherst 11-5 through the final 20 minutes of play, but it wasn’t until the 17:51 mark that Plattsburgh State began to dig out of the hole.
Rich Botting picked up the puck in the neutral zone and carried the puck into the Cardinals’ offensive end before firing a shot that sailed just under the crossbar for his first collegiate goal, cutting the Amherst lead to 3-1.
With just under two minutes left in regulation, Plattsburgh State (8-4-1, 6-1-1 SUNYAC) pulled Cadieux for the extra-attacker and the Cardinals quickly seized the opportunity. Luke Baleshta threw the puck to the front of the net and the freshman forward caught a lucky break to bring Plattsburgh within one. Baleshta’s shot deflected off the inside of Amherst goaltender Nathan Corey’s skate and across the goal line with 1:40 left in regulation, giving the Cardinals a new life.
Plattsburgh was knocking at the door three times in the final minute of play but was unable to score the equalizer as Amherst held on to claim the Cardinal Classic title.
The Cardinals finished the evening with 28 shots-on-goal but was unable to convert on their five power-play opportunities. The Lord Jeffs had 21 shots and went 1-for-3 with the man-advantage.
Cadieux made 18 saves in the loss for Plattsburgh State. Corey turned away 26 shots in the Amherst victory.
Corey, Turrin and Aaron Deutsch represented Amherst on the Cardinal Classic All-Tournament Team. Plattsburgh’s Andrew Smith and Wesleyan’s Keith Buehler were all recognized. Amherst forward Johnny Van Siclen, who netted the game-winner, was named the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Plattsburgh State will look to get back on track Friday against Skidmore at 7 p.m. The non-conference matchup will be played at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
Buehler Leads Wesleyan to 5-2 Victory in Cardinal Classic Consolation
Box Score
Two goals from junior forward Keith Buehler helped lead the Wesleyan Cardinals (5-4-1, 1-2-1 NESCAC) to a 5-2 win over Elmira College (5-8-0, 2-4-0 ECAC West) in the consolation game of the 2012 Buck Supply and Hynes Electric Cardinal Classic Tournament Saturday evening at the Stafford Ice Arena.
Jaren Taenaka’s lifted a backhanded shot over the left shoulder of Elmira goaltender Ryan deMelo at the 8:04 mark of the first period to give Wesleyan a 1-0 lead. John Guay and Jay Matthews were credited with assists on the goal.
The Soaring Eagles evened the score with just 1:28 gone in the middle period when Jesper Strale found Brian Depp perched to the side of the net and Depp tapped the puck inside the near post for his fifth of the year.
The Cardinals regained the lead at 9:43 of the second when Donald Kleckner knocked a rebound through the five-hole to make it 2-1 Wesleyan. Just shy of four minutes later, Buehler tallied his first of the afternoon on a tic-tac-toe setup by Nick Craven and Kleckner to push the Wesleyan lead to 3-1.
Elmira made it a one-goal game at 16:02 of the second when a diving Mark Morikawa found the back of the net to bring the score to 3-2.
Goals by Buehler and Guay in the final period allowed Wesleyan to pull away for the win and place third in the Cardinal Classic.
Wesleyan finished with a 37-26 edge in shots on goals. Both power-play units struggled as the Cardinals finished 1-for-5 and the Soaring Eagles went 0-for-5.
Nolan Daley made 24 stops, including 10 in the second period to secure the victory for the Cardinals. Elmira’s deMelo recorded 32 saves in the loss.
