Cardinals Win Classic Title
Game Recap by Rob Brennan

If last night’s games were any indication, Plattsburgh would be facing some stiff competition in tonight’s match-up against Castleton.  There were two questions that begged to be asked tonight.  Would Plattsburgh step it up from last night’s game?  Would Castleton force another intense overtime?  

On a side note, it was great to see Nick Rolls back on the ice for the pre-game warmup.  After being out for quite some time, I was wondering if we would see him in tonight’s game or if he would make his appearance this coming Tuesday against Norwich.  As it would turn out, he would not be in the lineup for tonight’s contest - but I would have to believe we’ll see him back in action three (3) nights from now.  

But anyway; back to the game!  As the puck dropped, both teams came out of the gate ready to tear it up.  Castleton was putting up formidable defensive plays, and Plattsburgh was performing with an intensity that I have not seen in quite some time.  Despite their efforts, both teams were stymied - held to just six shots on goal each at the end of a scoreless first period.

By the time the second period was under way, there was little doubt that Castleton was attempting to wear down Plattsburgh with their rugby-style defensive moves.  Although there were a lot of glaringly obvious calls against Castleton that were missed, they were in the box…a lot.  This style of play worked in Plattsburgh’s favor.  During a power play advantage in the second period, the Cardinals quickly flew around the net (rocking Castleton goaltender Seth McNary’s world) and fired in the first goal of the game at 1:52 with a power play goal by Dan Sliasis (assisted by Eric Satim and Dylan Clarke).  As Castleton would continue their tour of our fine penalty boxes, Plattsburgh’s Joey Wilson capitalized on a four-on-four opportunity at the 7:20 mark (assisted by Phil Farrow and Tom Breslin) to put the Cardinals up 2-0.  With penalties costing them dearly, Castleton simply did not pose much of a threat.  In fact, they only recorded two (2) shots on goal for the entire second period - compared to Plattsburgh’s eleven (11).  

As the third period was underway, Plattsburgh had retained their intensity and was looking to keep the aggressive Spartans at bay.  While Castleton did step it up and outshot Plattsburgh in the third, they simply could not find the back of the net.  In fact, when all was said and done the Spartans had been called on twelve (12) penalties - including a misconduct penalty by the Castleton head coach - for a grand total of thirty-two (32) minutes.  

With a few minutes remaining in the game, Castleton called a much needed timeout to plot their final moments on the ice.  Despite forcing game play in the Cardinal zone, there were few moments when Castleton controlled the puck.  Once Seth McNary had made his way to the bench to give the Spartans an extra attacker, they were unable to regroup as Plattsburgh forced action deep into the Spartan zone and at 19:20 Riley Hill fired in the empty net goal to seal the deal on a 3-0 Plattsburgh shutout.

Plattsburgh’s Bryan Hince genuinely deserved the all-tournament team and MVP awards for this year’s Classic.  His performance in tonight’s game was amazing - not only with a shutout victory, but also in the face of several blows to the head and numerous cheap shots by Castleton.  Admittedly, I was a bit nervous seeing a puck rocket off his arm in the first period, but he managed to shake it off and remain focused and in the game.  Kudos to Hince and to the entire Cardinal team for a job well done in this year’s Cardinal Classic.

Stay tuned as the Plattsburgh State Cardinals take on the Norwich Cadets in the Stafford Arena this coming Tuesday (January 6th, 2009) at 7pm.

Thanks to Rob for letting us post his game recap on CardinalHockey.Net! To read more of Rob's work make sure to check out www.darkstarcollective.com