Plattsburgh had three first period goals and the Cardinals defeated the Manhattanville women's hockey team 3-2 in Manhattanville's third NCAA Championship game appearance Saturday at Stafford Arena.  

The Valiants had their first scoring opportunity as Plattsburgh had both Julie Devereux and Ainsley Brien in the penalty box for 1:11.  Manhattanville mustered a handful of shots but were brought back to 4-on-4 when Alex Blackwell ( Brewster, N.Y. ) was assessed a two minute roughing penalty.  After the Cardinals killed off their penalties, Plattsburgh found the back of the net on the ensuing power play, as Laurie Bowler beat Karine Turmel ( Ste.-Marguerite, Quebec ).

Plattsburgh's Sarah Sampson was penalized for checking shortly after the Cardinal goal and Manhattanville tallied a goal of their own as Sarah Fullerton (Port Tobacco, Md.) put a shot on net from the point, that was knocked in by Amanda Nonis (Brampton, Ontario) for Nonis' ninth power play goal of the season, tying teammate Danielle Nagymarosi (Uxbridge, Ontario) for the single season program record for power play goals.  

The Cardinals had an answer with under seven minutes to play as Stephanie Moberg and Danielle Blanchard worked a give-and-go that resulted in Blanchard beating Turmel up high as Plattsburgh took a 2-1 lead.  Just two minutes later, the Cardinals found the back of the net again when Amber Ellis banged home a rebound in front of the net. 

Plattsburgh could have had at least one more with 2:30 to play in the first but Turmel made several amazing saves, sprawling in front of the net to stop the shot and two rebounds from the Cardinals.  With 1:15 to play, Turmel was at her best again, stopping Danielle Blanchard's point blank rebound by going into a split and reaching up with her glove to snatch the puck out of the air.  She finished the first period with 17 saves.

Midway through the second, Ainsley Brien was called for high-sticking when she wrapped her stick around Nagymarosi and took her down.  The Valiants capitalized on the ensuing power play right off the next draw when Natalie Zitek (Charleston, W. Va.) deflected a shot from Nagymarosi past Danielle Beattie to cut the deficit to one goal.  The goal was the 12^th of the season for the Valiant junior, sixth on the power play, doubling her previous career-high of six goals.

With 7:15 left to play and the Valiants already on a power play and a delayed penalty coming in favor of Manhattanville, a crowd of Valiants in front of the Plattsburgh net looked to have scored the equalizer as the official signaled goal but after a discussion between the officials, it was ruled that Cardinal goaltender Danielle Beattie had frozen the puck.  Manhattanville had a few more shots on net, but the Cardinals were able to kill off the 5-on-3.  

A late shuffling of lines by Head Coach Lauren McAuliffe put three career 100 point scorers together, Jess Zimmerman (Wauseon, Ohio), Amanda Nonis, and Danielle Nagymarosi.  Turmel was pulled in favor of the extra attacker with 1:30 remaining and Plattsburgh had a 2-on-1 with Sarah Fullerton the lone Valiant back and Fullerton made the save.  The Valiants had a few chances, but it wasn't enough as Plattsburgh hung on to win their second straight national championship.

The game marks the end of the career of the seven Manhattanville seniors.  Jess Zimmerman, Amanda Nonis, Dani Poupart (Fernie, British Columbia), Liane Ortis (Mississauga, Ontario), Lyndsay Letourneau (Lewiston, Maine), Danielle Mazurek (Eaglesham, Alberta), and Carina von Bredow ( Beamsville, Ontario ) will graduate having finally defeated Middlebury in the NCAA Quarterfinals and having advanced all the way to the NCAA Championship game, while boasting a cumulative 3.55 GPA.