PLATTSBURGH, NY – The Cortland women's hockey team fell by a 4-1 score at Plattsburgh, ranked 12th nationally by USCHO.com and 14th nationally by DIIIHockeyNews.com, in the championship game of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament on Saturday afternoon.
 
Cortland finishes the season with a 16-8-4 record, while Plattsburgh improves to 20-6-1. The Cardinals receive the SUNYAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III playoffs.
 
Katie Diem (Fairport/Niagara University) scored the lone goal for the Red Dragons, with Katie Mahoney (Toronto, ON/Toronto Leaside Junior) and Carlen Bertrand (Timmins, ON/MCLA) each providing an assist. Eline Gillodes (La Saulce, France/Kents Hill) made 23 saves and allowed three goals for the Red Dragons.
 
Fanny Aneborn (Linkoping, Sweden/Lulea HF Sweden) and Ainsley Delacourt (Stoney Creek, ON/Brampton Canadettes U22AA) were the two Cortland players selected to the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team.
 
Tournament MVP Sydnee Francis had a goal and an assist for the Cardinals, and Kayson Ruegge, Kate Conlon, and Lauren Farris also scored for Plattsburgh. Maddy Stetson stopped 17 shots the Cardinals to record the victory.
 
The game was scoreless through one period of action, with Plattsburgh holding a comfortable 10-4 edge in shots on goal, but Gillodes making 10 saves in the frame to keep the score tied. Cortland nearly took the lead late in the period, but Aneborn had a shot strike off the post with just over three minutes left.
 
Plattsburgh struck first eight minutes into the second period, as Conlon fired a shot from the right faceoff circle into the top left corner of the net.
 
The Cardinals doubled their lead with just over six minutes remaining in the period on a shot from the slot by Francis into the right corner of the goal.
 
Cortland quickly responded with a goal almost immediately following the second Plattsburgh goal. Bertrand fed a pass in the neutral zone to Mahoney as she was crossing the blue line. Mahoney skated towards the goal line on the right side and slid a pass back out to the slot, where Diem flipped a backhanded shot into the left corner of the goal to make it 2-1.
 
The game remained 2-1 into the second intermission, with Cortland escaping a dangerous power play in the final minutes of the period when a shot went off the post for the Cardinals.
 
Plattsburgh reestablished its two-goal advantage with under seven minutes remaining in the third period, as a shot from the left faceoff circle by Ruegge struck off the skate of a Cortland defender and snuck past Gillodes.
 
Cortland had its first power play of the game with under four minutes left in regulation, but the Red Dragons were unable to pull any closer with the man advantage.
 
The Red Dragons pulled Gillodes for an extra attacker with two minutes remaining, and Farris sealed the Cardinals' victory with an empty-net goal in the final seconds to secure Plattsburgh's second straight SUNYAC title.   

After the contest, the SUNYAC presented its Elite 20 Award presented to the student-athlete or student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPA at the championship finals site. Katie Diem and Gillian Dinsmore (Gorrie, ON/Saugeen Maitland Lightning) were the co-recipients of the honor this season (pictured with SUNYAC Associate Commissioner Megan Cross).

















   
SUNYAC All-Tournament Team:
Kate Conlon - Plattsburgh  
Fanny Aneborn - Cortland
Adriana Urban - Plattsburgh 
Ainsley Delacourt - Cortland 
Maddy Stetson - Plattsburgh  
(MVP) Sydnee Francis - Plattsburgh