PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Senior forward Kyle Thomas (Waltham, Mass.) scored the only goal and sophomore goalie Matic Marinsek (Ljubljana, Slovenia) stopped all 27 shots he faced as the No. 1-ranked Norwich University men's ice hockey team shut out No. 7 Plattsburgh State 1-0 in front of a capacity crowd at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena on Friday night.
Thomas provided the game's only offense by scoring his fifth goal of the season at the 14:15 mark of the second period to give the Cadets (10-0-0, 7-0-0 ECAC East) the only lead it would need to finish off a perfect first semester.
Thomas took a pass from junior forward Shane Gorman (Trumbull, Conn.) off the boards and sped down the right wing to create a 2-on-1 rush with junior forward Chris Duszynski (Okotoks, Alberta).
Thomas skated over the blue line and instead of passing to Duszynski, elected to take the shot himself. He snapped a quick wrister that beat Plattsburgh State goalie Mathieu Cadieux through the five-hole to give the Cadets the 1-0 lead on the power play.
Marinsek stole the show from there, turning aside nine shots in each of the three periods to shutout Plattsburgh at home for the first time since Cortland beat the Cardinals 2-0 on Jan. 28, 2011.
Although the game featured just one goal, there was no shortage of chances for either side in the edge-of-the-seat affair between the Lake Champlain rivals.
Plattsburgh, (7-3-1, 6-1-1 SUNYAC) buoyed by the strength of three power play opportunities outshot Norwich 9-7 in the opening stanza. The Cardinals also had the best chance of the first 20 minutes when Marinsek stoned Luke Baleshta all alone in front of the net after Kevin Emmerling sprung his fellow freshman on the break with a saucer pass into the slot.
Norwich picked up the intensity in the second period with a couple quality scoring chances in the opening six minutes coming off scrums in front of the net. In both situations, the Cadets were swarming the net with Cadieux down and sprawled out on the ice. However, NU wasn't able to get a stick on either to slide the puck over the goal line.
Just a few minutes before Thomas' goal, Cadieux stonewalled NU senior captain Pier-Olivier Cotnoir (Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec) on a breakaway off a feed from Thomas. Cotnoir deked to the forehand before flipping the puck over to his backhand and trying to slide the puck between the Cardinal goalie's pads. However, Cadieux closed the door and made the save to keep the game scoreless.
In the third period, the action opened up with a helter skelter first 10 minutes featuring golden scoring chances for both teams. Just under six minutes into the third, senior forward Colin Mulvey (Worcester, Mass.) rocketed between the Plattsburgh defensive pair to chase down the puck at the Cardinals' blue line. Mulvey collected the puck and sped in on Cadieux all alone. He tried to fire a quick shot five-hole but this time Cadieux squeezed the pads together to keep the game 1-0.
Just over 30 seconds later, Plattsburgh's Nick Jensen found himself all alone in the slot and fired a wrist shot high over the left corner of the net. A few moments later NU senior forward Tory Allan (Davidson, Sask.) split the Plattsburgh defensive with an acrobatic move and got off a shot that Cadieux got a paddle on to deflect into the corner.
With 11:58 remaining in the game, Michael Radisa was robbed at point-blank range by a highlight reel glove save from a cool and collected Marinsek.
Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery pulled Cadieux for the final 1:30 in favor an extra skater in frantic search of the equalizer. However, the goal would never come for Plattsburgh as the Cadets closed out the first semester with its third straight win on the road.
Marinsek improved to 5-0-0 on the season and picked up his third shutout of the season. Cadieux turned aside 25 shots for Plattsburgh and fell to 4-3-1 on the year.
Norwich finished 1-for-3 on the power play while Plattsburgh was 0-for-5.
NU won its second straight game at Plattsburgh's Stafford Ice Arena after losing the previous four before Friday night's win and the 2011 NCAA Quarterfinal win in overtime. Norwich now holds a 26-19-6 lead in the all-time series with the Cardinals.
The Cadets are off until the new calendar year when they return home to the friendly confines of Kreitzberg Arena to host the 2013 Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament on Jan. 4 and 5. NU meets Conn. College at 7 p.m. with Neumann taking on UMass-Dartmouth in the early game at 4 p.m.
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