Last Time Out

On Nov. 18, both the Oswego State Lakers and Plattsburgh State Cardinals squared off in Plattsburgh for the first game of a back-to-back weekend series. The Cardinals defeated the Lakers 4-0, despite a no-goal first period from both teams. Courtney Moriarty had two goals in the contest, with Melissa Sheeran tacking on two assists. Both of the Cardinals’ leading scorers, Sheeran and Kayla Meneghin, were held goal-less in the game.

Oswego State’s goaltender, Mariah Madrigal, went down in the first period due to an injury suffered in-game. It appeared to be her right leg, and skated off the ice and went right to the locker room. Amber Samonek, in her first appearance since the exhibition game, replaced her. While she performed well, it was no match for the strong Cardinals team. Emma Morisette was also a strong force on offense with a couple of breakaway chances that just would not go past Kassi Abbott.

Lakers vs. Plattsburgh State History

The loss on Nov. 18 is just one more dominating win that Plattsburgh State has picked up over Oswego State in their long history as conference opponents. The Cardinals now have a 26-1-0 series record after the victory on Saturday, and they’ll be looking to add another win to such a dominating series.

Before the 4-0 shutout, the Lakers were last shutout 5-0 against Plattsburgh State in the ECAC West Championships during the 2015-2016 season. They were also shutout two times prior to that during the regular in January of that year, both 7-0 and 5-0.

Looking at Plattsburgh State

After the Saturday win, Plattsburgh State is now 4-1-0 overall, and remains perfect in the NEWHL at 3-0-0. The Cardinals will be looking to head into Thanksgiving break with a perfect conference record, before going into the Uno Classic over the break.

Before Sheeran and Meneghin were held goal-less in a game, the last time another team had done this was Norwich University, who prevented only Sheeran from not scoring. The team lost 4-3 on Nov. 8. Meneghin was last shutout from a goal on Oct. 29 in the 5-0 victory over Utica College.

Player Spotlight

OSW: Emma Morisette

While Emma Morisette was obviously held pointless against Plattsburgh State, that does not mean she did not come close to a couple of goals. With both an even strength and short-handed breakaway opportunity, Morisette either just missed wide or hit the post multiple times. She was all over the ice, as she has been this season. So far, the freshman has three points on the season with a goal and two assists.

PLA: Courtney Moriarty

Courtney Moriarty scored a pair of goals against the Lakers in the 4-0 shutout victory. She is now third on the team for points, with nine so far. She is second on the team in goals with six. One of her goals was on the power play, which Plattsburgh State was not able to take advantage of much, as they only capitalized on the advantage only one time.

By the Numbers

RECORD [conference] (vs. each other)

OSW: 3-3-0 [1-2-0] (1-26-0)

PLA: 4-1-0 [3-0-0] (26-1-0)

SHOTS (per game)

OSW: 192 (32.0)

PLA: 210 (42.0)

GOALS (per game)

OSW:  13 (2.2)

PLA: 26 (5.2)

POWER PLAY (%)

OSW: 5-28 (17.9%)

PLA: 9-32 (28.1%)

Prediction

Given the performance from the Lakers on Saturday, and knowing what they are up against now, the game could possibly be a little closer. However, with Madrigal potentially out with the leg injury, that could cause problems for Oswego State’s net-minder situation. While Samonek was able to stop a decent amount of shots still, she’ll have to stop even more to have any chance against Plattsburgh State.

Sheeran, Meneghin, and now Moriarty are all players to watch as the Lakers take on the Cardinals for the second game of the weekend series. Emma Morisette will try to take the helm on offense, along with Olivia Ellis, who had four shots on goal to lead the team.

Lakers lose 6-1.