NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Dylan Clarke scored two
goals, including the game-winner with 1:14 remaining in the third
period, to help third-ranked Plattsburgh State past No. 10 Norwich,
3-2, in men's ice hockey action on Tuesday evening at Kreitzberg
Arena.
The Cardinals, who rallied from a 2-1 second period deficit to
earn the victory, improve to 15-2-0 on the season. The Cadets,
meanwhile, saw their six-game win streak snapped as they fall to
8-3-0 overall.
Plattsburgh State jumped on top 1-0 on their first shot of the
game when Clarke scored a power play goal at the 10:12 mark of the
first period. Norwich knotted the score at 1-1 just over two
minutes later when Rick Cleaver snapped a shot past Plattsburgh
State goaltender Bryan Hince at the 8:05 mark.
Norwich completely dominated play in the first period,
outshooting Plattsburgh State, 16-3, in the stanza. The Cadets were
able to push across just the one goal, and the teams went into the
first intermission with the game tied at 1-1. Hince made several
crucial saves in the period to keep the Cardinals in the game.
The Cadets took their first lead of the contest just 4:18 into
the second period when Rico Piatelli scored an unassisted
short-handed goal. Piatelli capitalized on a Plattsburgh State
turnover in the neutral zone and sent the crowd into a frenzy when
he corralled the puck near the red line, skated in on Hince and
flipped the puck past the Cardinals' freshman netminder.
Plattsburgh was able to tie the game at 2-2 late in the second
period when Eric Satim scored an even strength goal off
a rebound with just 2:08 showing on the clock.
The third period was a tightly contested 20 minutes with each
team generating quality scoring chances. Neither squad was able to
score the go-ahead goal, however, until Clark took the puck in the
neutral zone, skated into the Norwich zone and fired a shot from
the left point and over the shoulder of NU goaltender Chance Gieni
for the game-winning tally.
Gieni was solid for the Cadets between the pipes, stopping 18
shots on the evening. Hince finished with 31 saves for the
Cardinals.
Norwich will return to ECAC East competition this weekend (Jan.
11-12), when the Cadets travel to Tufts and Connecticut College.
The weekend swing kicks off a four-game road trip for NU.
Both of this weekend's games will be available on the radio
(WDEV: AM-550, FM-96.1) and on the internet (http://www.cadetsradio.com/),
with George Commo handling play-by-play duties.
