Josh Leis was Plattsburgh State's main goaltender last year, but when the Cardinals played their first game of the 2011-12 campaign, it was newcomer Mathieu Cadieux in net.
Leis knew he would have to fight for his place between the pipes.
"We're all here to push each other. It's not just you come in and you get your spot guaranteed," the junior said. "You gotta work for it as well, every year. So it's good competition and, I mean, competition pushes everyone to be better."
Plattsburgh State (3-1), ranked No. 6 in the USCHO.com Division III Men's Poll, plays its home opener tonight against Brockport before hosting Geneseo for another SUNY Athletic Conference game Saturday.
Leis and Cadieux have both played in the early part of the season, and coach Bob Emery said he's not necessarily intent on finding a clear No. 1.
"I'm a read-react coach. I make my coaching decisions, ... my dress-list decisions based upon what I see," Emery said. "We've won here with one goalie, and we've won with two goalies splitting, so I don't care either way. Just want to win."
The coach added he's confident in the skills of all three goalies — sophomore Sam Foley is the other — and is looking for consistency from them.
Cadieux, from Oshawa, Ontario, is a sophomore who joined the Cardinals this season after playing junior hockey last year. In 2009-10, he was at Division I's Quinnipiac, appearing in six games.
He said like the 12 other new players on Plattsburgh's roster, he's trying to prove himself during any ice time he gets.
"I think everybody, if you get a chance to get on the ice, you gotta show 'em what you can do and you gotta try your best," Cadieux said. "It's pretty much the same for everybody. If you get a shot, you gotta make the most of it."
He made 31 saves in the Cardinals' season-opening 6-4 win at Morrisville and then saw Leis start the next three games. Last Saturday, Cadieux relieved Leis early in the second period against Buffalo State and was credited with the loss. He sports a 3.23 GAA and a .902 save percentage.
"I'd like to say that I'm a good positional goalie," Cadieux said. "I'm really calm in the net, which sometimes helps out the players."
Leis played 17 games as a freshman, and after alternating early last season, he backstopped Plattsburgh to the championship in the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout and ended up appearing in 25 games. He went 17-5-1.
The Kitchener, Ontario, native played a strong game to beat Potsdam in his first start this season, allowing just one late goal, and earned a win at Fredonia before giving up three goals in just over 25 minutes Saturday. He boasts a 2.89 GAA and a .875 save percentage.
Emery has said Leis is at his best when he's aggressive.
"I need to challenge, be out of my net, play the puck and talk to my defensemen," Leis said. "And (then) I feel like I can play a really good game."
Leis said after practice on Wednesday that the goalies hadn't been told who would start against Brockport. He expected to find out Thursday or today.
The Golden Eagles (1-4-1, 1-3-1 SUNYAC) are coming off a 6-1 win over Geneseo last Friday. Ian Finnerty has 10 points for Brockport, and James Cody has eight, including a team-high four goals.
The Knights (4-3, 3-2) bounced back last Saturday by beating Framingham State, 6-1, in a nonconference game. Sophomore Zachary Vit leads them with six goals and six assists in seven games.
Emery said senior defenseman Matt MacLeod will be available for the Cardinals this weekend after starting the season on suspension.
Larry Normandin
SUNY Cobleskill '83-SUNY Plattsburgh '00
Temper is one thing you can't get rid of by losing it.
God gave everyone patience-The wise use it.
Trust is like paper - Once crumbled it can never again be perfect.
Ryan Farnan tallied three consecutive goals in the second period as Plattsburgh State showed off its offensive skills by piling up six goals Friday.
But coach Bob Emery was more impressed with the ones Brockport didn't score.
The Cardinals, who came in averaging three goals against per game, allowed just one for a 6-1 SUNY Athletic Conference men's hockey win in their first home game of the season.
Nick Jensen scored twice for Plattsburgh (4-1), and Matt MacLeod added another.
"I think we played pretty smart as a team," Emery said. "I told the guys when it was 3-0, 'I don't care how many goals we get; I care how many they get.' Because I think that the focus has to be defense. And I thought we played good defensive hockey only giving up one goal."
The sixth-ranked Cardinals host Geneseo tonight.
With his team already up 2-0, Farnan broke the game open in the second period. He took a feed from Kyle Kudroch on a rush and scored from the right doorstep less than five minutes in. The sophomore forward then banged in a rebound from the left side and later deked his way past a defenseman and threaded the puck into the top right corner.
"The third one, I was actually hearing coach yell, 'Change,' and I had a lot of speed and I saw their D was kinda on the back ... And I caught him on his heels, made one move and luckily got around him," Farnan said. "That was the best goal of the three for sure."
The natural hat trick took just under six minutes.
Troy Polino put Brockport (1-5-1, 1-4-1 SUNYAC) on the board with a shot from the side of the net with 6:41 left in the period.
Jensen put one in 13 seconds into the third after Brockport's Oliver Wren couldn't cover up the puck.
Then the parade to the penalty box started. Kudroch was ejected less than two minutes in after a collision at the boards. He was issued a five-minute major for hitting from behind and a game misconduct.
Later, Brockport's Adam Shoff drew a double minor for roughing before teammate Mike Hayward was sent to the locker room with a contact-to-the-head major and a game misconduct. Shoff served Hayward's penalty, meaning he spent nine minutes in the box, almost consecutively.
The teams combined for 40 minutes of penalties in the period.
"I think for the most part we played disciplined," Emery said. "It was a bad hit from behind, and we just can't have that. We can't have that at all."
He added that the Cardinals were fortunate they already had a sizeable lead when they had to kill of the five-minute power play.
Mathieu Cadieux, making his second start, stopped 22 shots to earn the win. Sam Foley made his first appearance of the season midway through the third.
"I thought (Cadieux) did what he had to do, and I thought we did a good job clearing out pucks in front of the net," Emery said.
Wren had 53 saves.
Jensen lifted a shot past him just 26 seconds into the game, and Matt MacLeod skated in alone and potted a shorthanded goal with 4:21 to go in the first period.
Plattsburgh pelted the net with 25 shots in the period and ended the game with a 59-26 advantage.
Geneseo will visit Stafford Ice Arena tonight after two straight conference losses, including a 7-3 setback Friday at Potsdam.
Larry Normandin
SUNY Cobleskill '83-SUNY Plattsburgh '00
Temper is one thing you can't get rid of by losing it.
God gave everyone patience-The wise use it.
Trust is like paper - Once crumbled it can never again be perfect.
Who was the last Cardinal to record a hat-trick before Ryan Farnan? Nick Rolls?
I was about to say that it was Patrick Jobb in this game against Potsdam back in February...
...but then I realized that Ryan Craig had one in the following game against Morrisville in the SUNYAC Playoffs last season. (a 4-3 OT win in which he scored all 3 regulation goals)
Depending on your definition of a Natural HT, the last in DIII was Musselwhite's shorthanded HT against Brockport (but it wasn't all in the same period, so some would say it WASN'T a natural). So, although I don't expect to find many (any?), my next task will be to look for Plattsburgh Players scoring a natural HT in the collegehockeystats era (99-present). A futile task? Probably.
EDIT: Scratch that... already found one... against Oswego, no less
Re: Plattsburgh State Hockey 2011-12 - The work and progress continue..
Originally posted by CARDS_rule_the_BurghView Post
Oh... wow... how did I miss that? That's awesome.
Depending on your definition of a Natural HT, the last in DIII was Musselwhite's shorthanded HT against Brockport (but it wasn't all in the same period, so some would say it WASN'T a natural). So, although I don't expect to find many (any?), my next task will be to look for Plattsburgh Players scoring a natural HT in the collegehockeystats era (99-present). A futile task? Probably.
EDIT: Scratch that... already found one... against Oswego, no less
I knew a platty guy would find one....of course against Oz...does a Natural Ht have to be in the same period??? didnt know that
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