In its three games so far in the second semester, Plattsburgh State has allowed just one goal — and that was an extra-attacker goal in the final minute of a game that was well in hand.
The Cardinals look to continue their stingy play today in a nonconference road game against Skidmore.
Plattsburgh (11-2-1) blanked New England College and Amherst the weekend after the break (although they lost a shootout in the Amherst game after a 0-0 tie), and then beat Norwich 4-1 on Tuesday.
“First off, good goaltending,” forward Connor Toomey said, explaining the lack of goals allowed. “That’s definitely been key. We’ve played good defense, and then we’ve played good offense, which is, I mean, they can’t score if we’re in the offensive zone.”
The seventh-ranked Cardinals held a 9-1 scoring margin in those three games.
Spencer Finney was in goal against Amherst and Norwich, and he said the rest of the Cardinals have been doing a good job clearing the front of the net, which is a big help for the goalies.
“We’ve been able to see all the shots,” Finney said. “They’re making it really easy for us so we can just track the puck easily and keep the rebounds to a minimum.”
Plattsburgh had just two idle days after playing three games in five days. The top-ranked Cadets had not lost before Tuesday, and Finney said that win “gives the team a great amount of momentum moving forward.”
Skidmore (2-10-1) struggled in the first semester and lost a pair of high-scoring games last weekend. The Thoroughbreds fell behind Salve Regina 5-0 before eventually dropping the game 8-4, and the next night they led Nichols 2-0 but lost 7-3.
They have not won since a Nov. 8 contest against Southern Maine.
Sophomore Anthony Bird leads Skidmore with 11 assists and 13 points, while Marc Cibelli and Connor Pelkey have each scored six goals.
For the Cardinals, tonight is a single road game among a string of home contests. They have not played away from Stafford Ice Arena since Nov. 29, and they will return to play five more home games before closing out the season on the road.
Michael Cassidy is Plattsburgh’s top point-getter with seven goals and seven assists, and Toomey has 13 points.
Finney said the Cardinals need to keep playing the same style of hockey.
“I think we just need to keep battling. Because we’ve been working hard in practice; we’ve been preaching playing blue-collar hockey,” Finney said. “So I think if we just keep up the hard work, we’ll see success down the road.”