NORTHFIELD — The Middlebury College men’s hockey team suffered a pair of one-goal losses this past weekend at the Primelink Great Northern Shootout, which was hosted by Norwich University.
Plattsburgh (8-0) defeated Norwich in overtime on Saturday to win the tournament.
On Friday, Plattsburgh held off a Panther rally to prevail, 5-4, in the first round of the tournament. The 1-2-1 Panthers battled back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game in the third, but the Cardinals scored with 5:13 remaining to earn the win.  
Middlebury jumped on the board just 39 seconds into the game, when Jake Charles’ shot trickled through the pads of Plattsburgh goaltender Brady Roleau. Plattsburgh tied the game at 4:05, when Nick Belger beat Stephen Klein (21 saves) with a slapper from the point
The Panthers regained the lead 2:01 later, when Matt Doherty worked a give-and-go with Evan Neugold for the first of his career. Roleau was lifted following the goal, and Spencer Finney (20 saves) took over between the pipes.
The Cardinals tied the game at 11:54 on a goal from Jesse Neher after a turnover. Cole Stallard then put his team on top at 14:09 of the first period.
Plattsburgh scored the only goal of the second period. Luke Baleshta took advantage of a turnover and bounced a shot in off Klein from a tough angle. Klein kept it 4-2 with 2:00 left in the period, coming up big on an attempt from Michael Radisa.
Middlebury began its comeback 5:02 into the third period, when Neugold scored on the power play with a shot to the top corner to make it 4-3. Vincent Gisonti made it 4-4 at 13:01, knocking in a centering feed from Charles.
Plattsburgh scored the game-winner at 14:47, when Matt Quilty connected on a blast from the left circle after a feed from Cam Owens.
In the consolation game on Saturday, Connecticut College edged the Panthers, 1-0, as Camel goalie Tom Conlin earned a 33-save shutout after Middlebury had scored 13 goals in its first three games.
The first period ended scoreless despite Middlebury holding a 12-6 shots advantage. Connecticut came on strong in the second, with several good looks at the Panther net. Middlebury goalie Liam Moorfield-Yee, making his first start of the season, turned away several attempts, including some big stops. 
In the third period, Max Greenwald had a good look for Middlebury early in the stanza, but Conlin denied his shot and Mark McLellan on the rebound.
The game-winning score came when Joe Giordano skated in on a breakaway before dishing to Joe Birmingham for a quick one-timer past Moorfield-Yee (24 saves) at 11:35.  
Middlebury pulled Moorfield-Yee late, but were unable to tie the game despite a good look from the right point by Ronald Fishman.
The Panthers will look to bounce back this weekend, when they play at Connecticut on Friday and at Tufts on Saturday.