Valiant Effort 

Both of these teams know each other extremely well, and quite frankly, they don’t like one another. Oswego State has NEVER beaten the Plattsburgh State Cardinals. If they want a shot today they will need to capitalize on any scoring chance they may have, those could be few and far between. They will also need to stay out of the box. Yes, the Lakers do that most games anyway, they are now No. 55 in the nation in penalty minutes. However, the Cardinal powerplay is working at a historically high rate at nearly 37 percent. What it comes down to is that Lakers need to compete. Dillon says it every game, but it can’t be more true than today’s game.

The Positives

The Lakers knocked off the four seeded Buffalo State Bengals last week by a score of 5-0. Nobody expected that. One reason for the victory is because everyone saw the real Olivia Ellis. She’s silently risen to 21 points on the season. Her speed will allow her to keep up with the Cardinals. Tori Trovato has been playing her best hockey recently so the team has to be confident having her behind them.

The Negatives

Plattsburgh State has two players in the 40 point club. Some teams have trouble getting a player in the 30 point range, the Cardinals also have three of them. They can score and they are fast. The Lakers are scoring 1.61 goals per game in conference play and don’t have nearly as much speed as their opponents today. That is going to be tough.

One Question

Brianna Rice was the second leading scorer on the team last year with 20 points. She has seen her goal total be cut in half this season. If you know she is struggling to score why not throw her on a line with the likes of someone who can? She’s played with Erika Truschke nearly the entire year and she has one assist to show for it. Nothing against her, she’s a good defensive forward and is solid on faceoffs, but Rice needs to get rotated in with the top line or something to get her going. They need her production, especially in today’s tilt.

Scouting Report

After briefly watching the Lakers run powerplay/penalty kill yesterday one looked a lot better, the penalty kill. They were active, blocked shots and didn’t allow really any good looks. This will need to be the case today.

The top two scorers in the nation will be playing today.  Melissa Sheeran and Kayla Meneghin, both around two points per game, will be on the score sheet tonight. There is really no way around. If somehow they don’t register a point, one has to think the Lakers could win this game. Granted, this Plattsburgh State team has 12 players with double digit points so that may not be entirely true. Any one of them could produce.  You have to like their chances though if they can keep those two from registering any points.

By the Numbers

Seeding

Lakers- 5 seed

Cardinals- 1 seed

Goals per Game

Lakers- 2.27

Cardinals- 5.48

Powerplay

Lakers- 15-88 (17.0%) [No. 22 in Div. III]

Cardinals- 40-109 (36.7%) [No. 1 in Div. III]

Penalty Kill

Lakers- 58-68 (85.3%) [Tied for No. 30 in Div. III]

Cardinals- 76-81 (93.8%) [No. 2 in Div. III]

Game Prediction

The Lakers will keep this one close, like the last playoff matchup, but they will not be able to withstand the speed of the best team in the nation. The Cardinals pull away early in the third period after Oswego State comes out flat, they seem to be prone to that at times.

Cardinals win 4-1

Prove me wrong, Lakers.