Plattsburgh Sports Information Department
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Bennett Stockdale's (Ottawa, Ontario/Alabama Huntsville) overtime goal with over 14 minutes of extra time elapsed gave the No. 6 and third-seeded Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) first-round tournament win over SUNY Potsdam on Wednesday night. The 3-2 victory sends the Cardinals to Oswego to face the second-seeded Lakers for a SUNYAC semifinal contest, which also serves as a postseason rematch of last year's SUNYAC Championship game.
The Plattsburgh State Cardinals are currently ranked No. 6 in the USCHO.com Division III Top-15 Poll.
Stockdale scored two goals for Plattsburgh while junior forward Luk Jirousek (Whitehorse, Yukon/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) scored a goal and tallied two assists. Tio D'Addario (Montreal, Quebec/Navan Grads) also had two assists for the Cards, while Ryan Butler (Kelowna, British Columbia/Adrian) picked up an assist. Jacob Hearne (Ennismore, Ontario/Toronto Jr. Canadiens) made 17 saves in over 74 minutes of action on the ice, earning his 13th win of the season. Potsdam netminder Lenny Perno played one of the strongest games of the year for any goalie across the country, making 63 saves, with the 67-save SUNYAC record falling just out of his reach.
Plattsburgh dominated the shot battle, outshooting Potsdam 66-19, but was unsuccessful on special teams, going scoreless in six power play opportunities while the Bears scored on one of their six opportunities.
The Cardinals improve to 20-4-2 and will advance to the SUNYAC Tournament semifinals to play longtime rival Oswego State in Oswego, N.Y. This year, Plattsburgh is 0-2 against the Lakers, and last beat the Lakers in the 2023 SUNYAC Championship game, winning 2-1 at Stanley Ice Arena. Potsdam falls to 8-17-1 as they conclude their 2023-24 season.
Stockdale broke open the scoring in the first period, scoring at the 9:59 mark of the first stanza. After a faceoff win in their defensive zone, the Cardinals skated up the ice as D'Addario left the puck for Jirousek at the point where a long shot from the left face-off circle was saved off the body of Perno. The saved puck, however, deflected off Perno and bounced off Stockdale, where the puck found the back of the net on the doorstep for the game's opening goal.
Potsdam responded just over five minutes later at the 15:15 mark of the first period, as Ryan Mahlmeister scored on a Bears' breakaway to knot the score at one goal apiece.
The tie held between the two teams into the second period until Jirousek scored just after the midway point of the period at the 10:54 mark. A turnover caused by Butler in the Potsdam defensive zone set up a breakaway opportunity for Jirousek who was still at the opposite blueline. A beautiful stretch pass from Butler found Jirousek just as he was skating into the Plattsburgh offensive zone with no one but Perno in front of him. The junior forward then went right through the five-hole on the glove side of the Potsdam goalie, giving the Cardinals the lead back.
Once again, however, the Potsdam Bears had a response as Perno's work on the power play allowed the game to remain just a goal behind. Jack Loran notched a power-play goal for the Bears with less than a minute to go, tying the game at two heading into the final period of regulation.
The third period saw two power play opportunities fall by the wayside of each team, as a defensive battle ensued. Once again it was Perno keeping Potsdam in the game, as he made save after save in tough positions. A power play within the last four minutes of game action for Plattsburgh saw three shots on goal, but all were saved by the Potsdam netminder, helping to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, the Cards outshot the Bears 16-2, as they dominated control of the puck throughout the extra stanza. Perno had a brilliant stand on the Cardinal power play to keep the game tied, making five saves and even saving a potential shorthanded goal later in the period with an excellent save diving to his right.
Finally, at the 14:23 mark of overtime, Plattsburgh State found the back of the net off a beautifully designed play off the faceoff win. Jirousek won the puck to start the action, where a touch from Stockdale to D'Addario saw the first-year skate toward the left-hand side of the ice along the boards. He waited for Stockdale who made his way down the slot to the doorstep, where D'Addario's pass found the stick of Stockdale and then the back of the net for the win.
For Potsdam, Mason Hoehn, Michael Campbell, and Eli Doughart-Wood each tallied assists to end their 2023-24 campaign.
