Plattsburgh junior goaltender Lilla Nease prepares to dive on the loose puck at the top of her crease. The Plattsburgh State women's ice hockey team claimed third place at the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey National Championships with a 3-2 victory over Elmira College Saturday at Chip Kenyon Arena in Middlebury, VT
With both teams coming off semifinal losses the night prior, it was Elmira who jumped on the scoreboard first in the consolation game.
Freshman forward McKenzie Schmidt carried the puck into the offensive zone, but quickly lost possession to Plattsburgh defenseman Sierra Benjamin. Benjamin was unable to clear the puck out of the zone, instead finding the stick of Elmira freshman forward Claire Elfring, who sent a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to beat Plattsburgh goaltender Lilla Nease on the blocker side.
Despite a 12-8 advantage in shots in the opening period, the Cardinals went to intermission with a 1-0 deficit.
Plattsburgh tied things up early in the second period, with a goal from senior forward Nicole Unsworth. Elmira goaltender Leonie-Louise Kuehberger made the save on a shot from junior forward Ivy Boric, and Unsworth – fresh off the bench – picked up the rebound, moved the puck to her backhand as she skated across the slot, and deposited it into the open net.
A bit more than four-minute later, the Soaring Eagles regained the lead. Junior forward Kelly Millins forced a turnover in the neutral zone and carried the puck into the offensive zone, where she left a no-look drop pass to senior defenseman Brianna Haviland. Haviland passed the puck to senior forward Brooke McArdle, whose shot from the left hash marks was tipped by Millins for the goal.
Down 2-1, the Cardinals were intent on drawing level before the second intermission, and the powerplay unit did it in final minute of the second period.
Benjamin sent in a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle toward the far post. Boric had her stick tied up with Elmira senior forward Morgan Mordini at the top of the crease, but managed to get just enough contact with the puck to redirect it through Kuehberger's five-hole.
Plattsburgh thought they had the lead at the 11:58 mark of the third period with a Boric wrap-around into an open net, but after video review, the goal was disallowed due to goaltender interference by Katinka.
The Cardinals took the lead for real just three minutes later, this time scored by Katonka off an assist by Boric. Katonka found Boric in the neutral zone, who skated it in and left the drop pass to return it to Katinka. The shot from the high slot beat Kuehberger high on the glove side.
Elmira pulled Kuehberger late in the period to try to come back and got a reprieve when a Plattsburgh shot at the empty net hit the post and settled in the crease, but the Cardinals held on for the 3-2 win.
Kuehberger made 30 saves on the 33 shots she faced in the Elmira net, while Nease stopped 18 of 20.
With the final result, Plattsburgh finished the season in third place with a record of 26-3-1, while fourth-placed Elmira finished with a record of 25-4-1. Gallery

Plattsburgh freshman forward Lily Stumm chips the puck into the corner from the half-boards under pressure from Elmira freshman defenseman Elizabeth LePage. Gallery

Middlebury captain Madie Leidt celebrates scoring the eventual game-winning goal late in the third period of the NCAA Division III national championship game. The top-ranked Middlebury College women’s ice hockey team got one step closer to its first national championship since 2006 with a 3-2 semifinal victory over Elmira College Saturday at Chip Kenyon Arena in Middlebury, Vermont.
A game featuring two of the top three defenses in the nation unsurprisingly went through the first period without a goal, as the teams exchanged scoring chances early.
The scoring began at 8:10 of the second period as Middlebury sophomore forward Cat Appleyard got the hosts on the board with a power-play goal.
Junior forward Jenna Letterie passed the puck from the top of the right faceoff circle to Senior forward Katie Hargrave at the goal line. Hargrave took one touch on the puck to find Appleyard at the right hash marks before Appleyard sent the one-timer on the net for the goal.
Middlebury College players and fans celebrate the eventual game-winning goal in the third period of the NCAA Division III national championship game. The visitors got back even just 1:01 later on the game clock, however.
Senior forward Morgan Mordini beat two Panthers to the puck in the right corner before sending a centering pass toward the slot. The puck took a slight deflection off the skate of graduate forward Emma Crocker before finding senior forward Eliza Beaudin in the low right circle, where Beaudin sent a low-angle shot to sneak in just below the glove of Middlebury freshman goaltender Sophia Merageas.
The Panthers regained the lead at 12:44 of the second period with a goal from freshman forward Kylie Quinlan. Freshman forward Raia Schluter corralled the puck along the left half-board and passed it to fellow freshman Molly Macqueen in the corner, who found Quinlan in the slot. Quinlan beat Elmira goaltender Leonie-Louise Kuehberger with a toe drag to get around the left pad.
Middlebury gained the crucial insurance goal at 8:13 of the third period with a goal from senior captain Madie Leidt. Letterie controlled the puck bouncing off the back of the goal before finding Leidt in the slot of the one-timer.
Elmira managed to get some offensive pressure late in the third, cutting the deficit in half at 15:46. After an icing call, Elmira senior forward Mary McCafferty won the defensive-zone faceoff, and freshman forward Erika Goleniak chipped the puck up the boards to herself into the offensive zone on the right-wing. Gollnick beat the Middlebury defenseman with a pass to junior forward Holley Riva in the slot, who buried the puck behind Merageas.
The Soaring Eagles were unable to complete the comeback.
Kuehberger made 29 saves in the 3-2 loss for Elmira, while Merageas stopped 16 of the 18 shots she faced in the Middlebury goal.
With the win, Middlebury advanced to Saturday’s Division III Women’s Ice Hockey National Championship Game against Gustavus Adolphus, while Elmira fell to the third-place game against Plattsburgh. Gallery

Middlebury freshman forward Jordan Hower carries the puck through the neutral zone after skating past Elmira forward Claire Elfring. Gallery

Plattsburgh senior defenseman Emma Killeen takes a shot on net past Gustavus Adolphus freshman Hannah Gray. The Plattsburgh State women’s ice hockey team saw its quest for another NCAA Division III national championship end in the semifinal round Friday with a 5-1 loss to Gustavus Adolphus College at Chip Kenyon Arena in Middlebury, Vermont.
The game could hardly have started better for the defending champions, as senior defenseman Emma Killeen put the Cardinals on the board just 1:21 into the game with a snipe from the left point to the blocker side.
The elation from that goal was short-lived, however. Just 45 seconds after Killeen’s goal, junior forward Molly McHugh tied the game for the Golden Gusties off an assist from senior forward Kristina Press and junior forward Hailey Holland.
Holland gained the lead for Gustavus Adolphus at 13:25 of the first period with what would prove to be the game-winner. Press and Holland crossed paths below the goal line, and once Press was behind the Plattsburgh goal, causing goaltender Chloe Beaubien to shift to the far post, she passed the puck back to Holland for the tap-in goal.
The Golden Gusties outshot the Cardinals in the opening period 12-4.
Gustavus Adolphus kept the pressure on Plattsburgh in the second period, scoring a power-play goal just before three minutes to cushion their lead. Holland corralled a pass from senior defenseman Kayla Vrieze and sent a shot in from the right faceoff circle, which was saved by Beaubien before Press jumped on the rebound to send the puck home.
Just 21 seconds later, the Cardinals appeared to cut the deficit to 1 with a goal off a deflection by sophomore forward Mae Olshansky, but after a lengthy video review, the goal was disallowed due to a high stick.
With the goal overturned, the Golden Gusties rode the momentum the rest of the way.
Gustavus Adolphus ended the second period with a 4-1 lead, scoring a shorthanded goal on Plattsburgh’s only power play of the game. Sophomore forward Brooke Power picked the pocket of graduate defenseman Erin McArdle at the Gustavus blue line and skated in alone on substitute goaltender Ashley Davis for the unassisted goal.
Gustavus Adolphus freshman forward Hannah Gray scored the only goal of the third period unassisted at the 4:49 mark. Gray blocked a shot from junior defenseman Mack Emery at the Gustavus blue line and hustled to get the puck in the neutral zone. Gray sent a wrist shot from just outside the left faceoff dot that slipped just below Davis’s blocker.
In net for the Cardinals, Beaubien and David made 13 and 17 shots, respectively. Gustavus Adolphus goaltender Katie McCoy made 15 saves as the Golden Gusties led shot 35-16
With the win, Gustavus Adolphus advanced to the NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championship game Saturday against hosts Middlebury College, while Plattsburgh fell to the third-place game against Elmira College.
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Plattsburgh freshman defenseman Mattie Norton sends a pass into the corner under pressure from Gustavus Adolphus freshman forward Hannah Gray. Gallery

Colby goaltender Nina Prunster charges out of the crease to cut off a break by Plattsburgh’s Sara Krauseneck. The Plattsburgh State women’s ice hockey team advanced to its ninth straight - and 14th overall - trip to the NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey semifinal with a 3-2overtime win Saturday over the Mules of Colby College.

Division III’s leading goalscorer, Annie Katonka, netted goals number 33 and 34 of the season, including the game-winner in overtime.

Katonka scored the opening goal of the game at 14:01 of the first period, redirecting a shot from linemate Ivy Boric to beat Colby Goaltender Nina Prunster. That goal proved to be the only tally of the first period.

The Cardinals doubled their lead midway through the second period, once again with a redirection to beat Prunster. Junior defenseman Kendall Wasik let loose a shot from the right point, and senior forward Sara Krauseneck got her stick on it in the crease to change the angle. Freshman forward Lily Stumm got the secondary assist on the goal.

The two-goal lead lasted just six minutes before the Mules got on the board with a powerplay goal late in the second period, as sophomore forward Meg Rittenhouse hit the snipe shot from the blue line on the powerplay, assisted by senior forward McKinley Karpa and freshman defenseman Anna Staton

The Cardinals ended the second period with a 2-1 lead, but the Mules controlled play for the early part of the third.

At 7:43 of the third period, senior forward Lexi Cafiero tied the game off a pass from Rittenhouse, with Karpa getting the secondary assist.

Plattsburgh held a narrow 13-12 lead in shots on goal in the third period but was unable to beat Prunster, so the game went to overtime.

A goal at 3:24 of the overtime period ended the game and sent the Cardinals on to the semifinal round of the NCAA tournament. As Katonka skated in from the half-boards on the left side, she pulled the puck across her body toward the goal line to get around Colby defenseman Klara Jandusikova before evading Prunster’s poke check with toe drag.

Katonka tripped over the outstretched leg of Prunster as she deposited the puck into the net, and she rolled on her back with her arms out wide welcoming her teammates to pile onto her in celebration.

With the win, the Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey semifinals for the 14th time overall. The semifinals and final will be hosted by Middlebury College, where Plattsburgh will face Gustavus Adolphus at 3 p.m. Friday. Gallery

Plattsburgh’s Ivy Boric takes a backhanded shot high glove-side on Colby goaltender Nina Prunster. Gallery

Plattsburgh State's forward Nicole Unsworth skates in on goal in the first minute of overtime to score the game-winner. The Plattsburgh State Women’s Hockey Team earned its ninth consecutive conference championship Saturday with a 4-3 overtime victory over SUNY Cortland in the New England Women’s Hockey League final.
The Cardinals found themselves on the back foot early, as the Red Dragons scored with the very first shot of the contest. Junior forward Dany Donegan was credited with the goal after getting a redirection on a shot from junior defenseman Molly McCabe at the 3:11 mark of the first period.
Plattsburgh pressed for much of the period, but the Cortland defense restricted the Cardinals to 7 shots on goal in the opening period, recording 6 shots themselves.
The Cardinals got the break they needed at the 4:11 mark of the second period when senior forward Sara Krauseneck took a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that deflected off a defenseman’s stick and found its way into the goal just behind the far post. Graduate student Annie Katonka and senior defenseman Emma Killeen recorded assists on the tying goal.
The Red Dragons pulled out in front again in the middle of the second period, as freshman forward Destiny Bautista put the puck high glove side with assists credited to fellow freshmen Gillian Zwolak and Mia Klasnick, but the lead would not last long.
At 15:13 of the second period, Katonka leveled the game at 2-2 as she scored her 32nd goal of the season with a one-timer from the slot off a feed from junior forward Ivy Boric, with a secondary assist credited to freshman defenseman Mattie Norton.
The Cardinals took their first lead of the game at 18:37 of the second as junior forward Tatem Cheney got her stick on the puck in a crowded crease to put it in the net. Assists went to senior forward Taylor Whitney and freshman forward Riley Calhoun.
The Red Dragons drew back level in the third period after the Cardinals were called for the only penalty of the entire game. Graduate student Erin McArdle was called for the slash to deny a near breakaway, and senior forward Grace Schnorr made Plattsburgh pay with a blast from the right point that found the back of the net.
The level at three goals each, the teams went to the locker room to prepare for the overtime period.
The extra frame was short, though, as sophomore forward Mae Olshansky made a pass in the neutral zone that sent senior forward Nicole Unsworth in alone on goal in the first minute. As Unsworth skated in close, passing from left to right at the top of the crease, she managed to evade the poke check from NEWHL goaltender of the year Molly Goergen and slip the puck into the net on the blocker side to seal the win for the Cardinals.
Goergen made 32 saves in the loss for Cortland, while Plattsburgh’s Chloe Beaubien recorded 23 saves and the win.
With the win, the Cardinals earned an automatic qualification for the NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey tournament, in which they will host Colby College at 3 p.m. on March 12th.
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Plattsburgh State's forward Tatem Cheney carries the puck into the neutral zone ahead of Cortland forward Jillian HlasnickGallery