SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team held close with national power the State University of New York at Plattsburgh before losing a 2-1 decision on Friday in an exhibition game to begin a weekend series. The Cardinals were ranked third in the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III national poll and won five of the past seven NCAA Tournaments.

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Maeghan Kennard (Hamlin, N.Y./Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles), 1 goal, 7-for-15 faceoffs, 3 blocks
• Junior Carissa Mudrak (Duluth, Minn./Gentry Academy), 48 saves
• Junior Mary Leys (Newport, R.I./Saint George's School), 1 assist
• Senior Jenna Harrison (Kitchener, Ontario/Wellesley), 13-for-23 faceoffs, 2 blocks
• First-year Elisabeth Gerebi (Victoria, Minn./Chanhassen), 5-for-11 faceoffs
• Junior Darby Rich (Melrose, Mass./Tilton School), 2 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Julia Masotta, 1 goal, 12-for-17 faceoffs
• First-year Emma McLean, 1 goal
• Senior Kendall Wasik, 3 blocks
• Senior Lilla Nease, 23 saves

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights were only outgained on faceoffs by a 30-26 count.

THE ACTION

• Saint Michael's opened the game with six of the first seven shots on goal, including as sophomore Angelina Ruiz (Independence, Minn./Gentry Academy) was denied from the left circle by Nease's blocker with 6:09 gone in the first period. Leys rung the crossbar just 19 seconds later.
• With 6.9 seconds remaining, Mudrak made a quick glove save of senior Tatem Cheney's shot with junior Rivers Morris crashing the far post while looking for a rebound.
• Mudrak denied another good SUNY Plattsburgh opportunity by turning away junior Ciara Wall's cross-ice shot at 11:15 of the second frame, with graduate student Sara Krauseneck bearing down on the back side.
• SUNY Plattsburgh broke the scoreless deadlock with 14:14 gone, as first-year Su-An Cho's shot from the blue line was redirected in the slot by Masotta.
• Mudrak kept it 1-0 heading into the third period by waiting out junior Mae Olshansky at the left post before sprawling to make a save with 25.8 seconds remaining.
• Mudrak stopped graduate student Nicole Unsworth's point-blank bid just 58 seconds into the final frame.
• McLean doubled the lead at 10:54, whipping a shot glove side from the slot.
• The Purple Knights countered at 18:00, as a giveaway deflected off of Leys' skate and into neutral ice, where Kennard split a pair of defenders to gain a step before sliding a shot through Nease's five-hole.
• Ruiz sent a shot from the blue line on net almost immediately after the ensuing faceoff, but the Purple Knights released no additional shots on net.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday at SUNY Plattsburgh, 3 p.m.