No. 1 Plattsburgh beats St. Thomas 4-2 in the quarterfinals. Plattsburgh has won three consecutive national titles. (Marissa Groechel/TommieMedia)
Goaltender Mackenzie Torpy blocking a shot from Sheeran. Trophy had 34 saves on the game. (Marissa Groechel/TommieMedia)
Allison Borgstrom skating down rink. Borgstrom had one goal and one assist. (Marissa Groechel/TommieMedia)
Allison Borgstrom celebrating with her team after scoring the first goal. Borgstrom had 7 goals on the season. (Marissa Groechel/TommieMedia)
Kathryn Larson passes the puck to a teammate. Larson had one key assist to Schwartzman Saturday. (Marissa Groechel/TommieMedia)
Mackenzie Millen facing off against Schwartzman. Millen scored two goals for Plattsburgh. (Marissa Groechel/TommieMedia)
Players scrambling for the puck. Leah Schwartzman scored the second goal of the game. (Marissa Groechel/TommieMedia)
Hannah Bird embraces Mackenzie Torpy after the game. The Tommies lost 4-2. (Marissa Groechel/TommieMedia)
PLATTSBURGH, New York — The St. Thomas women’s hockey team lost to Plattsburgh State 4-2 in the first round of the NCAA tournament Saturday at Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena, eliminating them from tournament play.
Coach Tom Palkowski summed up the loss with one word: hard.
“But I think we proved we can play with anyone in the country,” Palkowski said.
The victory gave the three-time defending national champions a spot in the semifinal game on March 17 against the winner of the Middlebury against Norwich matchup.
Forwards Melissa Sheeran and Mackenzie Millen both scored two goals for Plattsburgh (26-1-1), which has won the last three national titles.
Mackenzie Torpy made 34 saves for the Tommies. Forwards Allison Borgstrom and Leah Schwartzman each scored one goal for UST.
Torphy had seven saves in the first period, but let two past her. Sheeran scored the first goal of the game at 7:35 in the first with an assist from forward Kayla Meneghin. Seven minutes later, Sheeran scored again with assists from forward Ashley Songin and defenseman Julia Duquette. The Tommies trailed 2-0 after one.
The Tommies had 12 shots on goal in the first period and a power play opportunity, but did not manage to put any points on the board.
The Tommies came out strong after the break. Borgstrom scored on a power play at 2:03 with an assist from Schwartzman.
“It felt so good to get us on the scoreboard and celebrating with the team after,” Borgstrom said.
Minutes later Schwartzman tied up the game 2-2 with assists from forward Kathryn Larson and Borgstrom.
Overall I feel like we were evenly matched with them,” Larson said. “In fact we were a lot faster than them.”
A goal from Cardinal forward Millen put Plattsburgh back on top for good in the second period.
Cardinal fans erupted in anger when a goal attempt by Megan Kraus halfway into the third period was reviewed and ruled a no-goal. But Millen soon made up for that with an assist from Courtney Moriart, which created a 4-2 lead.
The Tommies ended their season with a record of 14-11-4 and will graduate two seniors, including MIAC player of the year Larson.
“I am really proud of the team,” forward Hannah Bird said.
Marissa Groechel can be reached at groe5630@stthomas.edu