Sacratini's Overtime Winner Helps Fourth-SeededPlattsburgh Men's Ice Hockey Erase a Three-Goal, Third Period Deficit to Take Down Top-Seeded and 12th-Ranked Cortland
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Plattsburgh
16-10-1
|
0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
|
Cortland
19-7-0
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Plattsburgh Sports Information Department
CORTLAND, N.Y. – With their backs against the wall for the second straight game, the fourth-seeded Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team erased a 3-0 deficit, defeating 12th-ranked and top-seeded Cortland on Jake Sacratini's (Montreal, Quebec/AIC) game-winning goal 4-3 in overtime in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win. The Cards forced overtime after trailing by three goals with less than nine minutes to go and tied the game with four seconds left on a goal from Aaron Catron (Middletown, Del./Philadelphia Little Flyers).
The Cortland Red Dragons are currently the No. 12 team in the latest USCHO.com Division III Top 15 Poll.
For the second straight game, Plattsburgh State found themselves able to recover from a 3-0 deficit to keep their season alive, recovering from the 3-0 hole after one period against Potsdam on Feb. 26, and then scoring four goals in the final nine-plus minutes of game time to defeat Cortland. The team has now also won five straight games.
The Cards began their comeback off a power play goal by Colin Callanan (Stony Point, N.Y./New York Apple Core) and then shortly after, Vlad Pshenichnikov (Moscow, Russia/Utica) put his team down just one goal. A faceoff win allowed Catron to tie the game in regulation, before Sacratini scored the game-winner in overtime. Kevin Weaver-Vitale (Toronto, Ontario/Markham Royals) tallied two assists, while Sacratini and Pshenichnikov each had assists for multi-point games. Jacob Hearne (Ennismore, Ontario/Toronto Jr. Canadiens) earned the win in goal, making 29 saves in just under 60 minutes.
The Cardinals won the shot battle 34-32 on the night, as a 19-8 third period advantage powered their comeback. Plattsburgh had the lone power play goal of the evening, going 1-4 on the advantage, while Cortland was 0-3.
Plattsburgh State improves to 16-10-1 with the win and next takes on second-seeded Oswego State in the SUNYAC Championship on Saturday, March 8 at 7 p.m. Cortland falls to 19-7 and will await the NCAA Division III Selection show to see if their season continues with an at-large bid.
The first period was all Red Dragons, as the host looked to be set up nicely to win comfortably, scoring five minutes in and then scoring with less than a minute left in the period to go up 2-0 heading into the intermission. Cortland also had a 15-7 advantage over the Cardinals on shots in the period.
The second period saw a much stronger defensive effort from Plattsburgh, limiting the Red Dragons to nine shots. The Cardinals were able to generate some good chances in the period as well, with Cortland goaltender Ronan Mobley making some strong saves to hold the Cards scoreless.
In the third period, Nate Berke put what looked to be the nail in the coffin into the back of the net, putting the Red Dragons up 3-0 with under 18 minutes to go. As the period approached the halfway mark, the Plattsburgh offense was picking up, but time was running out as they trailed 3-0 as late as 11:19 in the third period.
The game changed for Plattsburgh, however, when a slashing penalty was called on Cortland with 9:10 to go in the game. 30 seconds later, Callanan rebounded a try from Sacratini into the back of the net, shoveling a shot over Mobley to get Plattsburgh on the board. Pshenichnikov added the secondary assist on the play.
A penalty followed immediately after and four seconds after the advantage ended, Pshenichnikov ripped in a shot from the right face off circle, to cut the lead down to just one goal. Shane Bondy (Sharon, Ontario/Markham Royals) and Weaver-Vitale had the assists on the play.
Over the next several minutes, each team traded opportunities but could not score, with both goalies standing tall. Over the final minutes, the Cards struggled to get the puck in the offensive zone, so that they could pull their goalie and add the extra attacker. With less than a minute left, Cortland won back-to-back faceoffs in their offensive zone, but the Cardinals were able to get the puck up the ice and a shot on net with seven seconds to go.
Jake Lanyi (North Salem, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) took the biggest face off the season for the Cards and won it, where the puck found the stick off Catron. Catron ripped a one-timer, popping the water bottle above Mobley's left shoulder off the net, as the Cards had completed the comeback.
After the 15-minute intermission, just two face-offs occurred and Plattsburgh was able to dump the puck down into their offensive zone. After a battle along the boards, Weaver-Vitale controlled a loose puck and rifled a shot towards the net. Sacratini deflected the puck from the top of the slot and found the top shelf, giving the Cardinals the dramatic come-from-behind win.
Ronan Mobley made 30 saves for Cortland, taking the loss in net. Anthony Bernardo and Brady Hildreth had goals for the Red Dragons in the loss.
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | Plattsburgh | Cortland |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 1 for 4 | 0 for 3 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 3 (6) | 4 (8) |
| Shots on Goal | 34 | 32 |
| Face Offs Won | 32 | 46 |
