With a middling record of just two games above .500, some may be surprised that the Plattsburgh State Cardinals hold the No. 3 seed in the SUNYAC tournament. Despite a subpar overall record, the one that matters, conference play, is very strong at 10-5-1. A big reason for their 3-6-1 out-of-conference record is whom they have played. At the time of their contests, the Cardinals have played three ranked non-conference teams. Regardless of conference play, the Lakers have seen two different Plattsburgh State teams.

In the first contest in December, the Cardinals did not play their brand of hockey, and it showed. Plattsburgh State allowed fewer shots than in the second game, but they were higher quality. There were several odd-man rushes and two-on-ones in tight. This made Jimmy Poreda, a typically stellar goaltender, look mediocre. He gave up three goals in the first game, but his defense did not make it easy on him. In the first goal he allowed, his stout defense fell apart and was caught puck-watching. Because of this, they did not protect the slot or crease and left Anthony Passero alone in tight. Ian Wallgren went below the goal line to defend Michael Gillespie, and his defensive partner Phillip Middleton did not slide back to the front of the net. Instead, Middleton cheated down toward Gillespie and left Passero wide open on the back door. Gillespie found Passero for the game-winning goal.

Of the four goals the Lakers have scored on Poreda, two have been in tight, including the Passero goal, and the other two were on odd-man rushes.

“You have to try to score on the line rush,” head coach Ed Gosek said. “Any broken play, it’s important to try to get some pucks by their goalie … good puck movement, good shot selection, outnumbering them on loose pucks.”

While Gosek wants his team to jump on loose pucks, it will be a tough task for the Lakers. At their best, the Cardinals defense is extremely suffocating. They make it difficult to enter their zone with strong neutral zone play; however, when teams do enter the zone, they are not afraid to collapse in on their goalie. The Cardinals do a great job clogging the slot and crease area, resulting in lower quality shots for their opponents, even if they allow a lot of shots. Gosek believes his team has to take care of the puck more in the offensive zone and keep it on their sticks rather than firing shots from unlikely scoring areas.

“As far as packing it in five-on-five, there’s no sense to throw pucks to the net,” Gosek said. “They’re going to get control of them on the majority. They’re going to pack five guys in and around the net. You [need to have] patience and shot selection with the puck.”

Shot selection is very important against the Cardinals, as Oswego State took more shots in their loss. The big difference is the Lakers could not get traffic in front of Poreda, and there was not enough movement. There were several cases in which the Lakers took a shot from the point. With this, Poreda was already set in his goaltending stance and had an easy time tracking the puck. When a goaltender is set in his stance, making a save is exponentially easier.

Another key to beating Poreda would be the five-hole. Half the goals he allowed to the Lakers went between his legs when he was sliding from post to post. Using speed and forcing the puck cross the slot makes it much harder on Poreda, especially if the defense is caught puck-watching. Passing the puck through the slot is rather difficult at full strength, so the Lakers need to take advantage when they are on the power play.

When playoffs roll around, winning the special teams battle usually coincides with winning the game. This will be tough for the Lakers, as Plattsburgh State boasts the best penalty kill in all of Div. III at a clip of 91.7 percent. While Oswego State’s penalty kill is based on constant aggressive play in the neutral zone, the Cardinals are a bit more passive and wait for teams at their blue line.

“They’re all willing to block shots. They’re good off the defensive zone draws. They get possession and get clears,” Gosek said. “I don’t think they take unnecessary chances. They are not looking to score short-handed goals, [but] if it’s there they’ll [take a chance].”

The Cardinals take their chances but score by committee. They have scoring depth all throughout their lineup while other teams may be top heavy. For example, Rich McCartney plays on the third line and has seven points in 15 conference games. The Cardinals have several other players that fit this archetype, such as Christian DeFelice and Ryan Kuhn. With a scoring threat on all four lines, the Lakers cannot afford to take shifts off. Fortunately for Oswego State, it can use home-ice advantage in its favor via the last change.

“We get the last change at home, so some defensive pairing decisions on who to get out against their top lines [will be made],” Gosek said. “For the most part, [our forwards] have been pretty consistent defensively, have good awareness when they’re on the ice.”With the Plattsburgh State Cardinals, their stats and numbers are skewed due to their intense non-conference schedule. They do not play like a 13-11-2 team. Instead, they are a team that slows the pace of play down and use the counter attack to perfection with the help of shifty defensemen like Matt Araujo.

Regardless of how the Cardinals are playing, when they face Oswego State, one can throw the records out of the equation. The game will be extremely tight checking, closely contested and very chippy.

“It was an intense game, and both teams competed hard and played on the edge,” Gosek said. “Semifinal playoff game, Oswego, Plattsburgh rivalry, I can’t think of any way you’d rather have it.”

Graphic by Shea McCarthy | The Oswegonian