CORTLAND, N.Y. - The nationally 12th-ranked Cortland women's ice hockey team scored two late goals to win a thriller against rival and second-ranked Plattsburgh, 3-2, Saturday afternoon.
 
The Red Dragons end regular-season play at 18-5-2 (13-4-1 SUNYAC) and the Cardinals stand at 21-3-1 (16-2 SUNYAC). Cortland will be the second seed in the four-team SUNYAC playoffs and will host third-seeded Oswego on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m., while Plattsburgh is the top seed and will fourth-seeded Morrisville on Feb. 24.
 
The Red Dragons were 2-for-2 on the power play, and McKenzie Brown (Peru/Lovell Academy) opened the scoring for Cortland, converting on its first opportunity up a skater just 2:54 into the game. Ciara Wall fired back for the Cardinals, leveling the score with 11:07 still to play before the first intermission.
 
It was nearly 30 minutes of game time before another goal was scored. Plattsburgh graduate student Ivy Boric gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead with 1:28 remaining in the second period, with Kendall Wasik and Adriana Urban both picking up assists on the effort.
 
Plattsburgh carried the lead deep into the third period until a Wasik tripping call gave Cortland its second power play opportunity of the night. Dany Donegan (Cicero/Syracuse Nationals) pulled Cortland back to even with 2:58 to play, just 12 seconds into the power play. The game seemed destined for overtime until, with just 15 seconds left in regulation, Donegan found linemate Natalie O'Brien (Lockport/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles) in front of the net, and she fired it in to score the game winner for the Red Dragons.
 
Donegan led the Cortland offense, picking up her 97th and 98th career points in the victory. O'Brien and Brown scored the other Cortland goals, and Fanny Aneborn (Linköping, Sweden/Luleå HF), Molly McCabe (Webster/18UAA Webster), Kait Bourgeois (Cobden, ON/Ottawa Thunder), and Katie Mahoney (Toronto, ON/Toronto Leaside) all registered assists for the Red Dragons. Junior Molly Goergen (Eden Prairie, MN/Eden Prairie H.S.) turned away 30 of the 32 shots she faced, including all 12 in the third period.
 
Wall and Boric were the two Plattsburgh goal scorers, and Wasik, Urban, and Bridget Orr tallied assists. Goalie Lilla Nease shut down 23 of Cortland's 26 shots on goal.
 
Following the game, Cortland honored its nine seniors - Donegan, Bourgeois, McCabe, Jayden Kelley (East Berne/CP Dynamo), Nicole Tulowiecki (Syracuse/Syracuse Nationals), Jillian Hlasnick (Olean/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles), Elena Eichmann (Rochester/Syracuse Nationals), Emily Racco (Minesing, ON/Post University) and Anna Hamid (Syosset/New Jersey Colonials).
 
Cortland 3, Plattsburgh 2
 
Score by periods:
Cortland              1-0-2       3
Plattsburgh         1-1-0       2
 
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists)
Cortland: Dany Donegan 1-1, McKenzie Brown 1-0, Natalie O'Brien 1-0, Fanny Aneborn 0-1, Molly McCabe 0-1, Kait Bourgeois 0-1, Katie Mahoney 0-1.
Plattsburgh: Ciara Wall 1-0, Ivy Boric 1-0, Bridget Orr 0-1, Kendall Wasik 0-1, Adriana Urban 0-1
 
Saves: Molly Goergen (Cortland) 30 saves (2 GA in 60:00); Lilla Nease (Plattsburgh) 23 saves (3 GA in 60:00)
 
Shots on Goal: Cortland 26, Plattsburgh 32
Penalties: Cortland 3-6:00, Plattsburgh 3-6:00
Power Play: Cortland 2-2, Plattsburgh 0-2
 
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 18-5-2 (13-4-1 SUNYAC), Plattsburgh (Cardinals) 21-3-1 (16-2 SUNYAC)