PLATTSBURGH — The No. 1-ranked Plattsburgh State men’s hockey team figures to get a good test this weekend in the LayerEight Shootout, being held at the Stafford Ice Arena.
Plattsburgh, Norwich University and Middlebury College will be joined by St. Olaf (Minn.) this season in the four-team field.
Friday’s opening round has Norwich vs. Middlebury at 3:30 p.m. and Plattsburgh vs. St. Olaf at 7 p.m. The third-place and championship games are set for Saturday.
“It’s always an intense rivalry between Norwich and Middlebury,” Plattsburgh head coach Steve Moffat said. “It should be two exciting games (in the opening round).
“St. Olaf went to the NCAA Tournament two years ago and Coach (Eddie) Effinger always does a great job with his team. They play stingy defense and are structurally sound. and they’re off to a good start this season.”
The event rotates sites each year between Plattsburgh, Middlebury and Norwich. Last year’s tourney was held at Norwich and was won by the Cardinals.
Plattsburgh skated to a 5-0 win over Middlebury in the first round and then posted a 3-1 victory over host Norwich in the title game.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, however, the Cadets avenged that setback with a 2-1 overtime victory in Plattsburgh in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The four teams competing this weekend have combined for a 14-6-3 record thus far.
Last weekend, the 11th-ranked Cadets (4-2-1, 3-2-1) skated to a scoreless overtime tie at Skidmore College and then recorded a 5-2 victory at Castleton State.
Middlebury traditionally gets off to a later start in the NESCAC and opened its regular season last weekend with a scoreless overtime tie at Colby College and a 4-3 overtime setback at Bowdoin College.
St. Olaf (4-3-1, 2-1-1) played two games against Hamline a weekend ago. The Oles posted a 3-2 overtime win at Hamline on Friday and followed that up with a 7-2 victory at home on Saturday.
The Cardinals (6-0, 4-0) played one game last week and that was a 3-2 win over Potsdam State on Friday. Moffat and assistant coach Reid Lesswing had time to go back and review it.
“What was lacking was the intensity and aggressiveness,” Moffat said, “As a coach, you always go back and reflect on what we as coaches could have done differently.
“Maybe we talked too much about cutting down on our penalties and handcuffed the players. We don’t want our players to lose their aggressiveness.”
The Cardinals, after being called for three major penalties in two games combined the weekend before, were whistled for only one penalty against Potsdam.
“I’d rather see us have five penalties for being aggressive and playing well rather than taking stupid penalties,” Moffat said.
Plattsburgh did hold a 41-19 advantage in shots on goal in the contest and had nine shots on goal before the Bears got their first shot on net.
The Cardinals are scheduled for six more games, counting this weekend, before the break. Following this weekend, Plattsburgh will return to SUNYAC play for four games.
“I’m encouraged with how the season has started for us,” Moffat said. “We have six games left before the break, including four at home. We’re healthy right now and this is a big chunk of the semester for us.”
This week’s tournament was originally the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout that ran for 22 years before becoming the FirstLight Shootout. Now it’s a return of sorts with the LayerEight Shootout.
“It’s exciting to have Trent Trahan back running the tournament and LayerEight,” Moffat said.