PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.–The No. 6-ranked St. Thomas women’s hockey team will compete for a spot in the national championship game, when they face off against No. 1-ranked Plattsburgh State, Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

St. Thomas (20-5-3) is riding a hot goaltender in Alise Riedel, who has two consecutive shutouts, while Plattsburgh (26-1-1) has a potent offense that averages nearly five goals a game.

Coach Tom Palkowski said Riedel is the foundation of the Tommies defense.

“We start with our goaltender out to the blue line,” Palkowski said. “We like to say everything starts in our end, and we go offensively from there. If we take care of our end like we’re capable of, we should be fine.”

Forward Shannon Stewart leads the Cardinals in scoring with 33 points this season. Plattsburgh has four players with 30 or more points, and 14 players with double digit totals. Forward Courtney Umland said St. Thomas’ defense needs to be huge for the Tommies to be successful.

“For Plattsburgh not to get a lot of chances we have to play strong defense and be able to get the puck out when we need to and take short shifts and be ready to go,” Umland said.

Not only does Plattsburgh have offensive weapons, but also a talented goalie to fall back on if goals are hard to come by. The Cardinals Sydney Aveson posts a 20-1-1 record with 13 shutouts, a .971 save percentage and 0.54 goals against average. St. Thomas forward Karina Marette said the Tommies’ quickness plays in their favor when trying to reach the offensive zone.

“They obviously have a much bigger team. Most of them are from Canada, and we’re not as big, but we’re a fast team, so I think our speed is going to help us get past their defense and give us some chances,” Marette said.

St. Thomas has shown their ability to score in the playoffs as well. Last weekend against No. 6-ranked Wis.-Stevens Point, four different players scored in a 5-0 St. Thomas victory. Palkowski said the Tommies need to get the puck down low and get in front of the goalie.

“The biggest thing is get pucks in,” Palkowski said. “Their goalie has amazing stats, and we need to get some pucks to the net. Don’t let her see pucks – traffic, screens, tips, bad angle shots, and crash the net for some rebounds. Goals in the house, or that dirty area down low, is going to get the job done.”

One of the hardest parts of this trip is the travel length. Marette said the usual aftereffects of flying could affect the Tommies.

“The toughest part about traveling a longer distance is the jet lag,” Marette said. “We didn’t take a straight flight here, we had layovers and had a three hour bus ride, so just recovering from that.”

The Tommies left Minnesota around 2 p.m. E.T. for Atlanta. The team arrived at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at approximately 4:40 p.m. E.T. From there, the Tommies had a three-hour layover, then left for Albany. The team landed in New York around 9:30 p.m. E.T, then rode a bus for nearly three hours to Plattsburgh.

It’s going to be a tall task for St. Thomas, given Plattsburgh has only lost nine times at home since Ronald B. Stafford Arena opened in 2001. The Tommies play the Cardinals Friday at 3:30 p.m. E.T. St. Thomas will face either Norwich (26-3-0) or Wis.-River Falls (22-4-3) in the national championship or consolation final.

Jesse Krull can be reached at krul7386@stthomas.edu