Random thoughts about last night's 5-0 loss to Plattsburgh….
I predicted that Plattsburgh would score 5, but never would I have thought the Golden Eagles would have a goose egg laid on them. The Golden Eagles, usually a team to bring it, looked hesitant when on the offensive throughout the game, approaching it passively and without aggression.
But, for 1.75 periods Brockport played an amazingly tight defensive game, holding the Cardinals to a 2-0 lead. That was some great hockey. Awesome defense by the Eagles over that span. If that approach were maintained over the final period and a quarter, it would have been just a 3-0 game in the end.
It didn’t help that Plattsburgh brought its “A” game. That just shows the gap between the Cardinals and the rest of Division III: Brockport has hung with one of the best (Hobart), but didn’t have a chance against Plattsburgh. Most teams (including really good teams like Elmira) can share in that misery
Penalties were a killer. If John Madden were a hockey commentator he might say: “Penalties lead to goals”. Sure, Plattsburgh was held to “only” 3 of 9 on the power play, but they easily could have scored on 3 others had Todd Sheridan not made some crazy saves. Plattsburgh smells blood on the power play. They are relentless and very well coached….even though they are the enemy, you can’t help but appreciate them
Despite the gaffe on the first goal, I thought Todd had a great game. He faced nothing but quality shots. Not once did he face any easy breadbasket shots. Lots of awesome saves, including a dozen of the athletic-type. His best was one that was nearly-impossible: a standing glove save while leaning over Plattsburgh and Brockport players who were screening him. Other nice saves: the point blank glove save towards game’s end and the second period flop around the right end of the goal.
Dave McNab continued to play like a captain. He was all over the ice, hitting people and trying to create plays. He had the best hit of the year so far, leveling Plattsburgh’s Kavagnah in the 2nd. He obliterated the kid and I hurt watching it. Man, it was violent!
I also thought Aaron Boyer got dealt a bad hand in the second period and I was amazed that the whistle was never blown. There was chaos in front of the net and Hince got out of position. Boyer was there, ready to chip it in, until some Plattsburgh dolt held Boyer’s stick! It was Brockport’s BEST scoring chance of the whole game and Boyer was interfered with, unable to make it happen.
Plattsburgh has some great fans. There were maybe 15 of them in attendance, complete with horns and a flag. They always support them no matter where they are, even as far away as Fredonia.
I met the fathers of Sean O’Malley and Adam Shoff. A couple of nice, personable guys.
It was great to see another big crowd (1,000). Let’s just hope that this game didn’t turn off the newest fans. If they attend tonight’s game it will be a much more rewarding experience for them.
Here’s the report from the Athletic Department…
Hockey Drops First Conference Game of the Season
The College at Brockport Hockey team played a close game with SUNY Plattsburgh for nearly two full periods and trailed by a 2-0 score late in the second before Plattsburgh, ranked No. 2 in the country, scored its third goal with 10 seconds left in the period and opened the third period with a fourth goal 1:43 into the stanza as the Cardinals went on to post a 5-0 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) victory over Brockport Friday night at the Tuttle North Ice Arena in Brockport.
The conference loss was the first of the season for Brockport (3-2 overall, 2-1 SUNYAC) after the team opened the season with two straight wins in conference games. The shutout loss was the first since Oct. 26, 2007 when top-ranked Manhattanville College won a 4-0 game in Brockport.
In the first period, Brockport surrendered a goal in the first 44 seconds of the game as Plattsburgh’s Joey Wilson scored as he wrapped the puck around the back of the goal and tucked the puck into the corner of the goal. Brockport regrouped and played an even period fighting off two powerplay opportunities in the first 10 minutes of the contest. Plattsburgh took three penalties in the second half of the period and Brockport pressured the goal with six shots but could not put a puck in the back of the net.
Midway through the second period, Plattsburgh took a 2-0 lead on an Eric Satim goal and after a late penalty against the Golden Eagles, Wilson scored his second of the game off a rebound in close to the Brockport goal.
Early in the third period, Wilson completed the hat trick as he blocked a shot in the defensive zone and recovered to skate the length of the ice beating Brockport goalie Todd Sheridan (Edison, NJ) with a low shot giving Plattsburgh a 4-0 lead. The Cardinals (5-0, 4-0) added a late goal with less than a minute to play for the final score.
Sheridan finished with 36 saves in the Brockport goal while Bryan Hince stopped 21 shots for the Cardinals.
