PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — The Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team finished as the runner-up in the W.B. Mason Winter Classic with a 4-1 defeat to Elmira College on Saturday night at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.
Plattsburgh State (4-7-1) next plays a non-conference game at No. 4 Norwich University on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at 7 p.m. Elmira (7-3-1) plays at non-conference foe Oswego State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Plattsburgh State jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 1:27 of the first period. Sophomore defenseman Matt Araujo (Brookhaven, N.Y./Boston Jr. Rangers) played the puck from the left point to the slot where junior forward Rich McCartney (Hershey, Pa./Philadelphia Revolution) redirected the pass on goal. The puck trickled behind the Elmira goaltender and sophomore forward Christian DiFelice (Thorold, Ontario/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) banged home the rebound for his first goal of the season.
However, Elmira struck back for the next two goals to put Plattsburgh State down 2-1 going into the first intermission. Elmira's first goal came at 4:29 of the first period when Nick Ford finished off an odd-man rush with a wrist shot from the slot for his seventh goal of 2019-20. Tournament MVP Matthew Cuce and Anthony Parucci assisted on the play. Two and a half minutes later, the Cardinal's had a defensive zone turnover that led to an unassisted goal for Parrucci at 6:59 of the first period.
In the second period of play, Cuce scored twice to extend Elmira's lead to 4-1. Cuce's first goal came at the 13:30 mark after Parrucci intercepted a Cardinal pass below the Plattsburgh State goal line. Parruci passed the puck to Cuce in front of the net and he one-timed a shot past Plattsburgh State's sophomore netminder Jimmy Poreda (Tonawanda, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) (4-6-1). For his second goal, Cuce blocked a shot from the point and the puck bounced into the neutral zone. Cuce was first to the puck and went in on a breakaway before scoring with a wrist shot over Poreda's left shoulder.
Plattsburgh State pulled Poreda for an extra skater late in the game, but neither team would score in the third period and the final score was 4-1 in favor of Elmira. It is the first time that Elmira has won the Winter Classic.
Shots on goal were 33-18 in favor of Elmira.
Neither team converted on the power play with Plattsburgh State going 0-of-3 and Elmira finishing 0-of-5.
Poreda made 29 saves for Plattsburgh State and Logan Bateman (2-2-1) stopped 17 shots for Elmira.
Plattsburgh State's junior forward Liam Lawson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Powell River Paper Kings) and freshman forward Christian Dahl (St. Peters, Mo./Topeka Pilots) were named to the W.B. Mason Winter Classic All-Tournament Team. View the full All-Tournament Team below.
W.B. Mason Winter Classic All-Tournament Team
#10 Jason Kalinowski (F) - Endicott College
#12 Christian Dahl (D) - Plattsburgh State
#39 Liam Lawson (F) - Plattsburgh State
#4 Christian Lloyd (D) - Elmira College
#30 Logan Bateman (F) - Elmira College
#14 Matthew Cuce (F, MVP) - Elmira College
