The reigning SUNYAC champion Plattsburgh State Cardinals men’s hockey team has faltered significantly following their spectacular run at the end of last season that saw them fall to eventual runner-up Trinity College in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Heading into the start of the season, the Cardinals were projected to finish second in the conference by a SUNYAC.com poll. Currently, Plattsburgh State has 12 points and is tied for fourth place in the conference with SUNY Potsdam. The highest they can finish is fourth and can still potentially miss the playoffs completely.

With a record of 12-11-0 heading into the last weekend of the season, the Cardinals have fallen short of the expectations placed on them and are fighting to get a chance to defend their SUNYAC crown.

Their struggles can be attributed to the graduation of starting goaltender of Brady Roleau, leaving them with a goaltending core who had zero NCAA game experience prior to the start of the season.

“It is the youngest team as far as a group of seniors ever,” Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery said. “[We had] two inexperienced goalies going into the season.”

Their two main goaltenders, freshmen Jimmy Poreda and Lawson Fenton, have combined for a 2.91 GAA and a .908 save percentage. This is a step down from the 2.25 GAA posted by Roleau over the span of his career.

Beyond the freshmen goaltending tandem, the issues plaguing the Cardinals this season are hard to diagnose for Emery.

“It is really hard to pinpoint it,” Emery said. “However, in order to be successful, you must be able to keep the puck out. Our scoring defense is not good.”

The Cardinals’ start to this season mirrored the beginning of last year.

Plattsburgh State began the 2016-17 season with a 5-5-0 record before the winter break, while this season’s team was 5-7-0 heading into the break.

Though both teams were able to put together winning records in the second half of the season, this current team has not fared nearly as well. Going 3-2-0 in their five conference games since the break has positioned Plattsburgh State to be looking at a potential road playoff game or sitting out the postseason festivities as a whole.

This team has seen plenty of ups and downs this season, starting off with a 4-3 loss to the lowly SUNY Canton Roos. Despite this, the Cardinals have collected wins over Norwich University, who are the defending national champions, and another high quality team in the Babson College Beavers.

These impressive wins have been bright spots for Emery’s team, something the veteran coach attributes to the consistent development of his younger players.

“Our team speed is good. Our puck protection is good,” Emery said. “We are improving all the time.”

The team that beat Norwich University will need to show up this weekend when the Cardinals travel to take on SUNY Cortland on Feb. 16 before heading to Oswego State to meet their rivals in the annual Whiteout contest.

The Cardinals can guarantee a playoff spot this weekend by picking up four points, so expect Emery to have his team prepared to beat the Lakers on the road, which is a trend that has not been broken in years. The last time Plattsburgh State dropped a contest in the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena was on March 2, 2013.

Despite a season that is subpar for an Emery-led team, who has not finished with less than 17 wins since prior to the 2009-10 season, which is the earliest record available on the team’s website, the Cardinals are still in the thick of the SUNYAC playoff race.

With this is mind, Plattsburgh State will be looking to use this weekend to propel themselves back into the postseason, where they shocked the rest of the conference just one year ago.