PSU Women fall in Double OT heartbreak

Mar. 20—AMHERST — New year, same unfortunate ending.

Unlike last year's 5-1 loss to Gustavus Adolphus in the NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Championship semifinal, this one undoubtedly stung more.

In a game where Plattsburgh State trailed only with the game winner, the Cardinals fell in double overtime to the Golden Gusties, 3-2.

"A lot of emotions were brought up on how we played," Plattsburgh's Sara Krauseneck said. "It's unfortunate that we didn't come out on top. But, I can say without a doubt we gave it our all."

In what became a battle of attrition, Plattsburgh just did not have the puck drop the right way.

There's an old saying that goes: there's the thrill of victory and agony of defeat. While the Cardinals showed tears in defeat, PSU head coach Kevin Houle praised his team's effort.

"It was an unbelievable effort by both teams," he said. "I couldn't be more proud of our team's effort all year long and certainly tonight. Everything we had came down to a bounce of the puck and a shot on net.

"Unfortunately, they came out on top. Just an unbelievable effort by our group. I couldn't be more proud."

When the game hit overtime, the intensity went up another notch. Both teams had ample opportunities to end the game but stellar goaltending by GAC's Katie McCoy and PSU's Ashley Davis kept it level.

Davis' 44 saves were the most she had made all season, and tied for second most saves in program history.

It wasn't until the seventh minute of the second overtime that everything changed.

GAC's Sophia Coltvet gathered the puck and passed it to teammate Lily Mortensen, who beat Davis, sending the puck past her glove side.

"(Coltvet) gave me a beautiful draft pass and I tried to let it go as quickly as I could because the goalie had been playing great," Mortensen said. "She made a lot of good saves and I just tried to shoot the puck past her."

For a majority of the game, Plattsburgh looked to be the dominant team as Gusties head coach Mike Carroll said the Cardinals outskated his team.

Carroll added the players who don't see much of the ice were the rallying cry his team needed. They cheered and motivated the team on as the game continued.

While suffering the loss, Houle praised the effort of his team.

"We obviously know they're a good team, a physical team," he said. "We knew we had to stand up to that and I thought we did from the drop of the puck. We certainly had some great opportunities to put them away and to win the game.

"We just were going to come out to play with the same tenacity that we've played with down the stretch here. Girls executed a great game, and nothing more could have been done."

Scoring got underway early in the game as Plattsburgh's Julia Masotta sent the puck past McCoy just four minutes into the contest. Krauseneck took a loose puck down the ice, setting up Masotta to send the puck into the upper left corner.

GAC would tie things up in the 11th minute of the period as Kristina Press scored on a rebound. Coltvet had shot the puck and it bounced off Davis' pad, to which Press sent it past her.

Ivy Boric would give the Cardinals the lead once again in the second period, with a little luck. Taking a pass from Kendall Wasik, Boric shot from the right circle and sent the puck past the keeper as it bounced off McCoy's stick into the net.

Plattsburgh carried a lead into the third period before the Gusties would tie the game again. Hailey Holland and Kayla Vrieze passed the puck back and forth, before Holland beat Davis through the five-hole.

The score would remain the same until the second overtime when Gustavus Adolphus took its first lead of the game, the winner.

Krauseneck ended her career at Plattsburgh State ranked 11th in point scoring with 138 career points. Sierra Benjamin finished her career with 87 points, ranking her fourth all-time in program history among defensemen.

Davis finished her season with a 0.99 goals-against average and .956 save percentage. Davis' performance culminated with her being ranked among the leaders in career winning percentage (second, .936), goals-against-average (third, 1.08) and save percentage (third, .946).

NOTES: Benjamin and Krauseneck were named 2022-23 American Hockey Coaches Association All-Americans.

Benjamin was named to the All-America First Team, while Krauseneck was selected for the All-America Second Team.

This marked the second time for both players to be named AHCA All-Americans. They were both placed on the second team last year.

—

Gustavus Adolphus 3, Plattsburgh State 2 2OT

GAC;1;0;1;0;1; — ;3

PSU;1;1;0;0;0; — ;2

First Period- 1, PSU, Masotta (Krauseneck), 3:31. 2, GAC, Press (Coltvet, Olson), 10:25

Second Period- 3, PSU, Boric (Wasik), 11:12

Third Period- 4, GAC, Holland PP (Vrieze, Power), 7:02.

2nd Overtime- 5, GAC, Mortensen (Coltvet), 6:41.

Shots- GAC, 47-37

Saves- McCoy, GAV, 35. Davis, PSU, 44