Moffat’s Cards wins first trophy

BY COLLIN BOLEBRUCH Sports Editor

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It’s 2012: “Somebody That I Used to Know” was the top song of the year and Barack Obama was re-elected for his second term as president of the United States. This was the last year the No. 2 Plattsburgh State Women’s hockey team (25-2-0) were not conference champions.

The team extended its conference title streak into the double digits by winning the North East Women’s Hockey League Championship March 7, shutting out the No. 15 Cortland Red Dragons (20-7-0) 2-0 at home March 4. The win means an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Plattsburgh’s streak stretches into two different conferences. Before the first season of the NEWHL back in 2017-2018, the team won five straight ECAC West Titles dating back to 2013 before the current conference was formed. The team is the only to win the NEWHL, winning all five years the conference has existed.

Plattsburgh’s Assistant Coach Julia Duquette, who played on the team from 2013-2017 and was a part of this streak as both a player and a coach, said it can be

Houle became head coach in 2003, and is in his 20th season. He has now led the program to its 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, all of which he was head coach for.

It was announced March 7 that Houle, Duquette and their staff won NEWHL Coaching Staff of the season. Houle and Duquette previously won the award in 2020, while Houle had previously won Coach of the Year seven times in the ECAC West.

For his current team, Cortland has been a tough opponent. The Red Dragons played the Cardinals to a 3-3 tie last season, the first ever non-win against Cortland in Plattsburgh’s program history, with the team’s playing against each other since 2001.

This season’s NEWHL Championship was a rematch, with last season’s championship game being neck-and-neck. Red Dragons forward Grace Schnorr scored a game-tying goal midway through the third to tie the game at three, where it would eventually go into overtime. Graduate student Nicole Unsworth scored on the breakaway less than a minute into the extra frame to send the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament.

After a six-year hiatus, Plattsburgh men’s hockey is back on top of the SUNYAC. The championship drought was the longest in team history and the win marks the first trophy since Head Coach Steve Moffat was hired. The Cardinals now have 24 conference titles, 14 more than any other SUNYAC team. No. 6 Plattsburgh (20-5-2, SUNYAC 12-31) beat the No. 12 Oswego Lakers (17-9-1, SUNYAC 12-4) 2-1 in Oswego. The win is the first time the Cards have beat the Lakers in its home rink since 2018 and gives Plattsburgh an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship tournament.

Goaltender Eli Shiller was awarded the SUNYAC Tournament MVP and defenseman Jack Ring and forwards Bennett Stockdale and Carson Gallagher were named to the All-Tournament team alongside Shiller.

“Everything we’ve been through all year, for it to pay off like this,” Shiller said. “It’s awesome, man, it means the world.”

Forward Adam Tretowicz and Gallagher each scored once and forward Trey

RESULTS: UPCOMING:

Thomas and Stockdale recorded one assist. Plattsburgh dug deep into its defensive unit, as Spencer Bellina led the team with a plus-two plus-minus. Jack Ring had four blocks, Kevin Weaver-Vitale had three and Ryan Hogg and Bellina both had two.

First-year Shiller earned his secondstraight playoff start, getting the nod over veteran Jacob Hearne. He saved 26 of 27 shots, good for a 0.946 save percentage and 1.35 goals against average. Over the course of the tournament, Shiller had 67 total saves, 0.945 save percentage and 1.36 goals against average.

“When the team has confidence in me, I have confidence in them every time we step on the ice,” Shiller said. “We have three amazing goalies here: it could be me in net, Jacob or Kyle [Alaverdy]. We all have confidence in each other and the team has confidence in us.”

Goaltending has been the X factor for Plattsburgh all season. During its drought, the Cardinals were looking for solid play in the net. The arrival of Shiller and the rise of Hearne now gives Plattsburgh two solid options. Moffat views the two as interchangeable.

“Honestly, we could have went with either goalie. Just kind of went with a gut feeling last Saturday and he played well so we just kind of, we’ll ride a hot hand,” Moffat said.