CORTLAND, N.Y. - The nationally third-ranked Plattsburgh women's ice hockey team broke a 2-2 tie with two third-period goals and defeated Cortland, 4-2, Sunday afternoon in ECAC West action at Alumni Arena. The Red Dragons fell to 4-17-2 overall and 3-11-2 in the conference with the loss, while the Cardinals improved to 17-3-3 and 13-1-2.
Sophomore
Chelsey Wright (Medford/Suffolk PAL) and freshman
Gina Tomei (Bronx/Sound Shore Warriors) scored for Cortland with senior
Shannon Hakes (Rochester/Rochester Edge) and junior
Jen Whelan (Langhorne, PA/Neumann College) collecting assists. Sophomore goalie
Sarah Sitcov (Arlington, VA/Wyoming Seminary) registered 47 saves.
Senior Megan DiJulio (Slave Lake, AB/Warner Hockey School) led Plattsburgh with two goals and an assist, and senior Helen Giroux (Chazy/Chazy H.S.) and freshman Chelsea VanGlahn (Point Pleasant, NJ/Wyoming Seminary) netted one goal apiece. Six different players contributed one assist. Sophomore goalie Sydney Aveson (West Covina, CA/Minnesota St.) made 10 saves.
The Red Dragons opened the scoring at two minutes, 14 seconds of the first period. Aveson made a save on Hakes' slap shot, but Wright buried the rebound under the crossbar for her third goal of the season. Giroux tied the game at 12:20 of the opening period when she scored on a wrist shot from the right side.
The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead at 15:20 of the second period. Sophomore Erica Pomponio (New Boston, MI/Little Caesars) took a slap shot from the right point that went wide right and kicked back off the end boards to the front of the net where Giroux snuck a shot past Sitcov.
The Red Dragons answered early in the third period to knot the game at 2-all. Tomei dug the puck out of the left corner and threw the puck in front. The puck bounced off a Cardinal defender on goal and was knocked in by Aveson. Three minutes later, VanGlahn scored the game winner on a wrist shot from the slot that went inside the left post after she skated in from the blue line with the puck. DiJulio added an insurance goal at 16:54 with a snap shot from the slot for her ninth goal of the season.
Plattsburgh 4, Cortland 2
Score by periods:
Plattsburgh 1-1-2 4
Cortland 1-0-1 2
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Plattsburgh: Megan DiJulio 2-1, Helen Giroux 1-0, Chelsea VanGlahn 1-0, Erica Pomponio 0-1, Steph Moon 0-1, Teal Gove 0-1, Kristin Maton 0-1, Jordan Caldwell 0-1, Kara Buehler 0-1
Cortland:
Chelsey Wright 1-0,
Gina Tomei 1-0,
Shannon Hakes 0-1,
Jen Whelan 0-1
Saves: Sydney Aveson (Plattsburgh) 10 saves (2 GA in 59:56);
Sarah Sitcov (Cortland) 47 saves (4 GA in 60:00)
Shots on goal: Plattsburgh 51 (14-20-17), Cortland 12 (5-2-5)
Penalties: Cortland 4-8:00, Plattsburgh 3-6:00
Power Play: Plattsburgh 0-4, Cortland 0-3
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 4-17-2, 3-11-2 ECAC West; Plattsburgh (Cardinals) 17-3-3, 13-1-2 ECAC West