For the second straight night, the Cardinals spent the third period frequenting the penalty box.
This time it cost them.
Geneseo scored two power-play goals in the final period to beat Plattsburgh State 3-2 in a SUNY Athletic Conference men’s hockey game Saturday at Stafford Ice Arena.
The Cardinals were assessed six penalties totaling 23 minutes in the third period. They entered the weekend averaging 4.4 infractions per game and were called for 22 over two games.
While Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery stopped short of criticizing the officials — he said he would comment on the officiating “at the proper time to the right people” — he did express frustration about the game.
“In my 28 years, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” he said. “I just feel bad for the kids in the locker room. Not to take anything away from Geneseo, but that’s not what college hockey’s all about.”
Geneseo (9-8-3, 6-5 SUNYAC) drew numerous whistles as well, making eight trips to the sin bin.
At one point in the second period, being short-handed seemed to work to Plattsburgh’s favor.
While Geneseo had a 5-on-3 advantage, Michael Cassidy pounced on a loose puck, skated in on a breakaway and buried it for a 2-0 cushion.
Ryan Donnelly put the Knights within one when he redirected the puck into the left side of the net at 14:05.
Geneseo capitalized on its next two-man advantage, with David Ripple getting a goal from down low to knot the score 3:16 into the third.
“
It’s unusual to play in this building and get a lot of power plays,” Geneseo coach Chris Schultz said. “We just had to take advantage of them when we did, especially with the 5-on-3 that we had. I think our guys did a good job on the first 5-on-3 (in the third period), capitalizing on the opportunity.”
While Geneseo’s Jack Ceglarski was sitting out a five-minute boarding major, the eighth-ranked Cardinals took two more penalties, putting them back on the kill.
Trevor Hills banged the puck past a diving Brady Rouleau at 10:22 to give Geneseo its first lead.
The Knights held off the Cardinals (14-5-1, 10-2) the rest of the way, including when Plattsburgh’s net was empty for the final 1:32.
Rouleau finished the game with 28 saves, and Nick Horrigan earned the win by stopping 26 shots.
“
I thought we came out flat in the first period. I don’t know why,” Emery said. “I thought we had a pretty good second period.
“
And the third, couldn’t get anything going. It was hard to get any momentum the way the game was going.”
In spite of what Emery thought was a slow start, the Cardinals took an early lead. Shortly after a pregame ceremony recognizing him and six other seniors, Brandon Beadow ripped a shot from the right circle past Horrigan.
The Knights, who were coming off a 1-0 loss to Potsdam on Friday, thought they played a strong period despite the deficit.
We really liked the way we were playing. We came in after the first period and said. ‘Let’s just make sure we’re disciplined and keep playing the way we’re playing,’” Schultz said. “That’s how we played all year. We’re just having trouble scoring goals this year.
“So it was nice to pop three in here. It’s a great momentum-builder for the team.”
Plattsburgh has five road games left, four of them against SUNYAC opponents.
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Geneseo 3, Plattsburgh 2
Geneseo 0 1 2 — 3
Plattsburgh 1 1 0 — 2
First period- 1, PSU, Beadow, 3:46. Penalties: PSU, O'Quinn (slashing), 5:34. Gen, Horrigan (tripping), 8:03. Gen, Brown (charging)13:39. Gen, Brickler (cross-checking), 14:01. PSU, Beadow (cross-checking), 14:01. PSU, Hermans (roughing), 15:39. Gen, Ceglarski (tripping), 19:24.
Second period- 2, PSU, Cassidy, 7:12 (sh). 3, Gen, Donnelly (Solomon, Collins), 14:05. Penalties: Gen, Hills (holding the stick), 4:51. Gen, Caradonna (charging), 4:51. PSU, Baleshta (cross-checking), 4:51. PSU, Beadow (interference), 5:18. PSU, bench (too many players), 6:27. Gen, Stanimir (tripping), 17:58.
Third period- 4, Gen, Ripple (Stanimir, Brickler), 3:16 (pp). 5, Gen, Hills (Ripple), 10:22 (pp). Penalties: PSU, Calabrese (interference), 2:08. PSU, Botting (interference), 3:03. PSU, Baleshta (slashing), 5:14. Gen, Ceglarski (boarding), 6:55. PSU, Gorman (slashing), 9:15. PSU, Hermans (holding), 10:22. PSU, Botting (game misconduct), 10:22.
Geneseo 12 8 11 — 31
Plattsburgh 5 12 11 — 28
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Horrigan, Gen, 28-26. Rouleau, PSU, 31-28.
Power play (goals-opportunities): Geneseo 2-8, Plattsburgh 0-6.
Attendance: 1,817.
Email Courtney Lewis: clewis@pressrepublican.com
Twitter: @sportsCourt
