Cardinal Points

Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Sean Kaschak Sophomore Amber Ellis battles for the puck against Middlebury's Andrea Buono for control of the puck during a game Tuesday night at the Stafford Ice Arena. [Click to enlarge]

For the fifth straight time, and second time this season, the No. 2 ranked Plattsburgh State women's hockey team defeated No. 1 Middlebury, snapping the Lady Panthers' 17-game unbeaten streak.

The Lady Cards' first victory over the Lady Panthers this season was in the championship game of the Middlebury Classic on Nov. 18, a 3-2 win.

Tuesday night's win came in the form of a shutout, 3-0 - the fifth straight shutout for the Lady Cards, extending their shutout streak to 306:47.

The two teams were in a scoreless tie after one period of play and were also tied 8-8 in shots-on-goal.

Division III leading scorer, junior Danielle Blanchard, weaved through traffic following a feed from senior Julie Devereux and netted a backhand shot glove-side past Middlebury sophomore goalie Lani Wright at 10:41 of the second period to give the Lady Cards a 1-0 lead.

Exactly seven minutes later, junior Shay Bywater streaked down the left side and roofed a high wrist-shot, also glove side, putting the Lady Cards up by two.

"It just kind of happened," Blanchard said of the glove-side shots. "We saw openings and took them and just capitalized on our opportunities."

A PSUC penalty 2:56 into the third period gave Middlebury's Division III-best power play a chance to chip away at the Lady Cards' lead.

PSUC junior goalie Danielle Beattie had the answer for all shots on the power play as she flashed her pads and glove.

Later in the third, junior Claire O'Connor put away a rebound in front of the Middlebury net, after sophomore Laurie Bowler forced a turnover in the neutral zone. The Lady Cards went up 3-0 and never looked back.

"We wanted to do a better job getting the puck out of our own end," PSUC Head Coach Kevin Houle said. "We bent but didn't break. We kept chipping away with a goal here and a goal there and before you know it it's 3-0. (Beattie) made some big saves. She did a good job with rebounds and keeping pucks in the corner. It was a great effort."

Continued...

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