Elmira goaltender Leonie-Louise Kuehberger prepares as Plattsburgh graduate student Annie Katonka skates in alone for the shorthanded go-ahead goal late in the third period in the Northfield Savings Bank East-West Classic at Norwich’s Kreitzberg Arena. Plattsburgh State graduate student Annie Katonka stole the show with a hat trick in her return from injury as the Cardinals earned their revenge win, 4-3 over Elmira College in the first round of the Northfield Savings Bank East/West Classic at Norwich University’s Kreitzberg Arena.
Plattsburgh started strong early in the first period, sending a flurry of shots toward Elmira’s freshman goaltender Leonie-Louise Kuehberger, but it was the Soaring Eagles who broke through first, as junior forward Holley Riva found the back of the net near the midpoint of the period.
The opening goal started a frantic sequence in which the teams combined for three goals in just 1:19 of game time. Plattsburgh defenseman Kendall Wasik leveled the score with a snipe from the point before Elmira captain Eliza Beaudin broke forward to regain the lead.
Having given up two goals on five shots, Plattsburgh goaltender Ashley Davis - who had struggled in games against Endicott and Elmira two weeks ago - was done for the evening, as coach Kevin Houle opted instead for junior goaltender Chloe Beaubien.
A powerplay late in the first period helped the Cardinals tie the game before the intermission, as Katonka took advantage of a scramble in front of the Elmira goal to put the puck home.
The Soaring Eagles once again took the lead at 3:10 of the third period with Beaudin’s second goal of the night, but an Elmira penalty for too many players on the ice gave Katonka the chance to once again tie the game on the power play.
Elmira had an opportunity to retake the lead after the midpoint of the period, as two Plattsburgh penalties gave them a full minute of the 5-on-3 powerplay, but the Cardinals’ penalty kill stood strong.
Another Plattsburgh penalty late in the third period gave the Soaring Eagles one more hope of avoiding overtime, but it backfired.
Shortly after a shorthanded breakaway by graduate student Kaitlin Drew-Mead was cut short by Elmira’s Madi Morton, Kantonka created some magic of her own. Katonka stole the puck from the stick of senior defenseman Jenny Heath at the Elmira blue line and skated in alone to beat Kuehberger.
The shorthanded tally completed the hat trick for Katonka, in her first game back after suffering a leg injury two weeks ago against Endicott.
Beaubien earned the win with 29 saves on the 30 shots she faced after replacing Davis, while Kuehberger’s 34 saves on 38 was not enough to avoid the loss.
Plattsburgh advanced to Sunday’s East/West Classic final against host Norwich University, while Elmira moved on to the consolation game against Adrian College. Gallery.

The Middlebury Panthers on the scramble play in front of the night for the goal. It would be the second semi-finals game of the Cardinal/Panther Classic and would feature a battle of top 5 teams as the #2 Middlebury Panthers would faceoff with longtime foe the #5 Elmira Soaring Eagles. It would be a matchup between a couple of very evenly matched foes as all the scoring would come in the second period of the game. The Eagles would get the opening goal of the game at the 9:37 mark of the period on the powerplay from Mary McCafferty. Although the Panthers would have an answer coming as they would score at the 15:56 mark on the Kylie Quinlan goal to make it 1-1. Forty seconds later the Panthers would get the lead on the Madie Ledt goal for the 2-1 lead. From there the defenses would step up on both sides and the Panthers would hold on for the 2-1 victory. In the winning effort, the Panthers go to 4-0 on the season as Sophia Meragaes would make 29 saves and head to the finals against the Endicott Gulls. While the Soaring Eagles suffer their first loss of the season behind a 32 save night by Leonie Kuehberger. Gallery.

Plattsburgh State's Ashley Davis (1) with the shoulder save for one of her 17 saves on the night for the shutout win. It would be a battle of national powers as the #1 Plattsburgh State Cardinals would host the #4 Elmira Soaring Eagles at the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena as part of the senior night for the Cardinals. The game would start off good for the home Cardinals as they would take the 1-0 lead 5:48 into the first period when Sara Wolfe would light the lamp. The game would stay there the ten-minute mark of the period when the Cardinals would strike again once again from Sara Wolfe for her second of the night to make it 2-0 Cardinals. The Soaring Eagles would do there best to keep the game close as they would go through the whole second period without a goal. In the third period about halfway through the back would break and the Cardinals would score from Taylor Whitney for the 3-0 lead and hold one for the win. In the winning effort, the Cardinals would go to 22-1 on the season as Ashley Davis would make 22 stops on the night. Gallery

The Elmira Soaring Eagles celebrate as they are crowd the 2019 W.B. Mason Winter Classic champions at the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena. The championship game of the W.B. Mason Winter Classic woould be a renewal of a rivalry between longtime foes as the Plattsburgh State Cardinals would faceoff with the Elmira Soaring Eagles. The game would start off great for the home Cardinals as they would get the opening goal of the game just 1:27 into the first period from Christian Difelice. The lead would short-lived as the Soaring Eagles would get the equalizer with a shorthanded goal from Nick Ford just over three minutes later and tie the game at 1. Then just two minutes later at the 6:59 mark of the first period, the Soaring Eagles would take the 2-1 lead on a goal by Anthony Parrucci. That is where the game would remain for the rest of the period and until the 13:30 mark of the second when Elmira's Matthew Cuce would score two goals in two minutes with one of them being a shorthanded goal to take the 4-1 lead. That would be all that the Soaring Eagles would need as they would hold on from there to take the 4-1 victory. In the losing effort, the Cardinals would fall to 4-7-1 on the season. Gallery.

The Elmira Soaring Eagles celebrate as they get the game winner with 13 seconds left in the overtime. It would be the opening game of the W.B. Mason Winter Classic hosted by the Plattsburgh State Cardinals and would feature a matchup between the Endicott Gulls and the Elmira Soaring Eagles. The first period would take sometime to get going as there would be no scoring there would be three goals in 9 minutes. The Gulls would get two goals from James Winkler and Stev Kuxhynski as the Soaring Eagles would get a lone goal from Kale Kane and the Gulls would have a 2-1 lead after the first period. In the second period the offenses on both sides would be a scoring machince as they would combine for four goals in the period. Scoring for the Soaring Eagles would be Nick Ford and Marty Kaponian and for the Gulls it would be Luke Rogers and Bump Lisk as the Gulls would take a 4-3 lead into the final period. In the final period the Soaring Eagles would keep up the fight and win the period 2-1 and send the game to overtime. Scoring in the third period for the Soaring Eagles would be Stev Kunchynski and Matthew Cuce. In the overtime it was starting to look like we were headed to the shootout until Elimra's Nick Ford would rip one by the goalie to give the Soaring Eagles the 6-5 win in overtime. With the win the Soaring Eagles will head to the championship of the W.B. Mason Winter Classic against either host Plattsburgh State or Wentworth. Gallery.