MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The UW-Stevens Point women's hockey team took an early lead on No. 1 Plattsburgh State but the Cardinals scored five unanswered goals to defeat the Pointers 5-1 on Saturday in the Cardinal/Panther Classic at Kenyon Arena.
Box Score Ali Biagini (Stillwater, MN/Stillwater) gave UW-Stevens Point (5-3-1) an early lead, scoring her team-high sixth goal of the season at 5:02 of the first period. Plattsburgh State (8-0-0), the two-time defending national champions, responded with three goals in less than four minutes to take a 3-1 lead and went on to add two more in the third period.
Biagini's early goal came on a rebound after Cardinals' goaltender Camille Leonard saved shots from
Rachel Reynard (Hortonville, WI/Hortonville) and
Kat Nejedlo (Fond du Lac, WI/Fond du Lac), who each earned assists on the goal. The goal was just the third surrendered by Plattsburgh State this season and it was the Cardinals' second deficit of the season.
The Cardinals got goals from Bridget Balisy, Melissa Sheeran and Kayla Meneghin between 9:30 and 13:11 of the first period to lead 3-1 after a period. Giovanna Senesse and Sheeran each added goals in the third period for Plattsburgh State.
Senese had a goal and three assists, while Sheeran tallied two goals and an assist. Meneghin and Balisy each recorded a goal and an assist. Menegin entered the weekend as the nation's leading scorer, while Sheeran ranked fourth. Balisy and Senese were also in the top 15 in the country in scoring.
Lisa Fowle (Wausau, WI/Wausau West) made 26 saves in net for UW-Stevens Point, which held the nation's top-scoring offense under its average of 5.38 goals per game. Leonard stopped 30 shots for Plattsburgh State, as each team had 31 shots in the game.
The game was the fourth-ever meeting between the two programs and the first since the Pointers and Cardinals met in the national semifinals on March 17, 2006. Plattsburgh State leads the series 3-0-1.
UW-Stevens Point closes its showing against the top-two teams in the country at the Cardinal/Panther Classic against No. 2/3 Middlebury at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 29 at Kenyon Arena.
