The Cortland women’s ice hockey team ended their final practice Thursday night before they take on their hardest opponent back-to-back this weekend. Cortland travels to NEWHL leader and nationally fourth-ranked, SUNY Plattsburgh, with a 12-0-1 conference record. The Cardinals must face the first team that has ever given them a problem in over 74 contests.
The Red Dragons know exactly what needs to be done to shake up the Cardinals in this weekend’s games on Febr3. Red Dragons captain, Dany Donegan said they need to be prepared for a “fast pace competitive game”. “We have to stay out of the box because Plattsburgh capitalizes on powerplays, so we need to be very buttoned up in the defensive zone.”
The team has strong beliefs they have what it takes to pull off another two wins against Plattsburgh. “We are very confident we will win again,” graduate student, Emily Cromer said. “Although a lot of games have played since then, we have focused on really getting better in different areas of our game. Plattsburgh is a consistent top competitor for us, so we know we must bring our complete game to win.”
Sophomore Mia Hlasnick, scored the game winning goal against Plattsburgh back in December, and believes they can play with “any top team in the nation including Plattsburgh.” “It’s important for us to believe that we are also a top team and have the ability to compete with them at a high level. I think that if we come into this game with a positive mindset and trust in our abilities, we have a chance to pull off another win or two.”
Following the 3-0-win streak the Red Dragons finished last week with, the streak has given the team a lot of assurance going into this weekend. “We did play really well against Canton and Potsdam last week, so it will definitely help us in keeping our confidence up,” senior, Jayden Kelley said. “I think with Plattsburgh, we have to play a bit more conservative because they are more of a scoring threat where with Canton we could sometimes get away with little things.”
Cortland knows what to expect from the Cardinals and have made subtle changes to their plays to keep Plattsburgh on their toes. “There’s a few new plays and forechecks we have learned and will use to see if it catches them off guard,” said Kelley. “I think our new power play lines have been doing very well also.”
Plattsburgh has many key players that create such a powerful roster. There are multiple veteran players that are very good at controlling the puck. “Plattsburgh is and always has been a strong program bringing in new talented players every year,” said Hlasnick. “Nicole Unsworth scored last year in our overtime playoff loss proving that she can be someone that the team can lean on during clutch situations.”
The Red Dragons have been fortunate this year regarding injuries but did lose one of their top defenders earlier on in the season. Junior, Kait Bourgeois tore her ACL and is out for the rest of the year, but the younger defenders on the team have done a great job filling Bourgeois role.
Two wins this weekend would put the Red Dragons in first place with a 12-0-2 record knocking out the Cardinals for the first time ever to 12-0-3. The Red Dragons are prepared and excited for what’s to come this weekend.