PLATTSBURGH — The Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team began its regular season with a victory against Canton Saturday at Stafford Ice Arena.
Brandon O’Quinn found the back of the net twice, while Schuyler Seyfert and Joe Drabin each tallied their first goal as Cardinals in Plattsburgh’s 4-2 win against the Kangaroos.
The Cardinals spent a majority of the matchup on the offensive attack, registering 36 shots compared to the Kangaroos’ 21.
Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said his team generated a good amount of offense and could have had more if it wasn’t for Canton’s defensive effort throughout.
“I got to give Canton a lot of credit,” Emery said. “They played great defensively. They blocked at least 30 shots, and they sacrificed out there. I thought we had a lot of shots that didn’t get to the net, and I give them a lot of credit.”
O’Quinn started and ended the Cardinals’ scoring, tallying a power-play goal 6:48 into the game and another power-play goal with 6:59 remaining in the contest.
O’Quinn said Plattsburgh has dedicated a good portion of time to work on the power play, formulating a system that can translate to scoring.
“We have spent a lot of time paying attention to detail over the past few weeks as we have been getting ready,” O’Quinn said. “With the fact that the league has added some new rules, we knew it would be important to work on our power play, so we have been preparing and doing the right things, which started to show (Saturday).”
Seyfert put Plattsburgh ahead 2-0 just 20 seconds into the second period, but Kyle Matsumoto responded for Canton shortly after with a short-handed goal at the 3:52 mark to cut the deficit in half.
Drabin recaptured some momentum for the Cardinals 2:05 later, burying a shot right above the crease.
Plattsburgh goaltender Brady Rouleau, who accounted for 19 saves in the game, stood strong between the posts for his team during the second period, making a stop on a 2-on-1 chance as well as a breakaway opportunity for the Kangaroos.
“We made a lot of mental mistakes, and Brady answered the bell for us,” Emery said. “It’s not about how many saves you make. I thought Brady made the big saves when we needed them.”
Joey Vocino scored a power-play goal for Canton late in the third period with his team on a 5-on-3 advantage to make it 4-2, but the Cardinals held the Kangaroos scoreless the rest of the way.
O’Quinn said the Cardinals know every game is significant and were glad to start the season with a win.
“It’s a huge start. As we know, it’s a short season here and every game is as big as the next,” O’Quinn said. “You can’t take any nights off, and starting the season off on the right foot with a win is a big momentum builder for us.”
Emery said it’s important to start the season with a victory, and he also noted that the team has plenty to improve.
“It’s a good first game because we won, but we got a lot of work to do,” Emery said. “We made a lot of mental mistakes. Our puck management wasn’t very good. We didn’t get pucks in and out at times when we should. We didn’t play the scoreboard or the clock at times, so we have to get better at that.
“We had our first game, and now we have something to measure things by, and I think that’s the key. We can watch the tape, and we can learn and measure.”
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Plattsburgh State 4, Canton 2
Canton 0 1 1 — 2
Plattsburgh State 1 2 1 — 4
First period- 1, PSU O’Quinn (Egan), 6:48 (PP). Penalties: Engvall, PSU (interference), 3:35. Matsumoto, CNT (cross-checking), 6:11. Lindquist, PSU (roughing), 12:17. Hincenbergs, CNT (hooking), 17:03.
Second period- 2, PSU Seyfert (Hall), 0:20. 3, CNT Matsumoto (Vocino), 3:52 (SH). 4, PSU Drabin (Fournier-Gosselin, Ragone), 5:57. Penalties: Kulczycki, CNT (hooking), 1:21. O’Quinn, PSU (interference), 1:27. Kulczycki, CNT (hooking), 3:43. Pfaff, PSU (delay of game), 6:11. Hopfer, CNT (interference), 10:32. Lepone, CNT (tripping), 13:39.
Third period- 5, PSU O’Quinn (Lindquist, Taff), 13:01 (PP). 6, CNT Vocino (Sova, Koivula), 14:46 (PP). Penalties: Lepone, CNT (slashing), 1:35. Langlois, CNT (slashing), 5:17. Kulczycki, CNT (slashing), 9:08. Vocino, CNT (hitting after the whistle), 9:20. Rosen, CNT (hitting after the whistle), 9:20. Drabin, PSU (hitting after the whistle), 9:20. Quilty, PSU (hitting after the whistle), 9:20. Hopfer, CNT (slashing), 12:05. Engvall, PSU (holding), 13:59. Lindquist, PSU (interference), 14:04. Chiasson, PSU (holding), 19:19.
Shots on goal:
Canton 5 7 9 — 21
Plattsburgh State 8 13 15 — 36
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Cerasuolo, CNT, 36-32. Rouleau, PSU, 21-19.
Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Canton: 1-7; Plattsburgh State: 2-10.
Attendance: 2,058.
Email Joey LaFranca:
jlafranca@pressrepublican.com
Twitter: @JoeyLaFranca
