University of St. Thomas Athletics
14-10-4
Plattsburgh St.
24-2-2
No. 1-ranked Cardinals end W. Hockey season
3/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
St. Thomas faced a tall task on Saturday: a road match at No. 1-ranked Plattsburgh (N.Y.) State in the NCAA playoff quarterfinals. The Tommies trailed just 1-0 after two periods but eventually fell 4-1 to the defending national champions.
The Cardinals (24-2-2), who average five goals a game this season, scored twce in a 2:06 span midway through the third period to take a 3-0 lead.
Tori Bailey's power-play goal pulled UST within 3-1, but a Cardinal empty-net goal in final 90 seconds sealed the victory.
Taylor Neisen made 25 saves for St. Thomas (14-10-4), which was even in shots on goal at 29-29. It's the second year in a row that Pllttsburgh ended UST's season. Last March it recorded a 1-0 overtime win over St. Thomas in the national semifinals.
"I thought both teams played well," said UST coach Tom Palkowski. "I'm proud of our players. We had a few good scoring chances that they stopped, some chances that would have given us some momentum."
Neisen added that the Toms battled particularly well through the game's first 40 minutes.
"We really stress defense, and overall I thought we played well." she said. "Getting through the first two periods (and holding their offense down) was tough. It just would have been nice to get through that third period (with a chance to win).
Bailey added, "Taylor came up big, and everyone just did their job. We blocked shots and stayed in the game."
The Tommies, the MIAC regular-season runner-up and playoff champion, graduate just three seniors.
