MIDDLEBURY — Visiting Plattsburgh dealt the Middlebury College men’s hockey team a 4-1 setback on Friday, Jan. 17. The loss was the fourth straight for the Panthers and dropped them to 7-7. Middlebury will look to bounce back on the road this weekend with games at Bowdoin and Colby. The Cardinals were 6-8-2 after earning a 2-2 tie at Williams the next day.
Against the Panthers the Cardinals broke the game open with three goals in the second period after taking a 1-0 lead in the first period on an Adam Tretowicz strike.
In the second Plattsburgh scored two mid-period goals a minute apart: Mitchell Hale potted a rebound, and Mike Falanga flipped home a backhand from the slot.
A breakaway by Panther Zach Shapiro at 13:55 made it 3-1, but 12 seconds later Joe Drabin tipped in a shot from the point on the power play to create the final score.
Middlebury had chances in the third period, but Cardinal goalie Jimmy Poreda (23 saves) early on denied consecutive shots from Owen Powers, Antoine Belisle and Billy Dobensky. Later Poreda denied Powers from the right circle and Shapiro’s follow-up bid. With five minutes to go, Poreda denied Powers’ shorthanded partial breakaway.
Middlebury failed to score on six power plays. Adam Wisco made 17 saves on 20 shots in 31:08 for the Panthers, while Jake Horoho made eight in 28:52, allowing one goal.