On Saturday night, I drove down to Elmira to take in the
ECAC West hockey finals between Mercyhurst College and
Plattsburgh State.  I was curious about Plattsburgh's team, which
has lost only a couple of games this year.  I'm glad I went,
because I witnessed two good teams playing exciting up-and-down-
the-ice hockey.  As you know, Plattsburgh won the game 6-3
thereby living up to their billing as one of the top teams in
Division III.
 
     It didn't start out that way, as Mercyhurst jumped out to
the 2-0 lead in the early going, outskating the Cards who
appeared to be a bit flatfooted.  By the middle of the second
period, Plattsburgh had come back to tie the score 2-2 when the
game's turning point occurred.  A Plattsburgh player (sorry, I
didn't get the names) on a breakaway was intentionally hauled
down by the Mercyhurst defenseman to save a goal.  The Cardinals
were awarded a penalty shot from this, which they converted to go
ahead 3-2.  In addition, the Mercyhurst defensemen got 5 minutes
in the penalty box, presumably for intentional hooking.  During
that time, Plattsburgh managed 2 power play goals to put the game
out of reach.  My question is, didn't Mercyhurst get penalized
twice in this situation, i.e., by the Plattsburgh penalty shot
and the subsequent power play?  That's how I saw it, anyway.
Perhaps someone else can explain this to me.
 
     Plattsburgh brought down a large contingent of fans for the
game, which speaks well of their program.  I especially enjoyed
the guy who ran a lap around the arena after each Cardinal goal,
waving the school flag.  By the third quarter he was being
harassed by a dozen little kids who were getting in his way,
tugging on the flag and just generally being nuisances.  Each
"victory lap" became more and more of a struggle.  Oh, and by the
way, everyone that I spoke to (mostly locals and Elmira College
fans) thought that the game should have been played in
Plattsburgh, not in Elmira.  For what its worth.
 
     Last year in this same arena I watched Wisconsin-Stevens
Point win their third straight Division III championship.  This
year, I hope that Plattsburgh gets the opportunity to play
Stevens Point for the Division III championship.  If that match-
up occurs, I'd encourage any hockey fan within range to take it
in.  That should be quite a game.
 
                                   Mark Middagh
                                   Cornell University