Junior James Ryan (Richmond Hill, ONT) scored a hat trick as The College at Brockport Hockey team nearly completed a thrilling comeback before dropping a 4-3 decision to Plattsburgh, ranked No. 8 in the USCHO.com national poll, in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game in Plattsburgh.
After Plattsburgh (14-4-1 Overall, 10-1-0 SUNYAC) scored the first two goals of the game in a span of 3:30 midway through the first period, Ryan scored the first of his three goals – all on the power play - for the first Brockport (9-8-1, 4-5-1) goal to cut the lead in half with 4:26 left in the period.
Plattsburgh added two more goals in a span of 1:30 near the end of the period to take a 4-1 lead into the first intermission.
In the second period, Ryan scored a power play goal for Brockport to trim the lead to 4-2 with an assist from Chris Luker (New Hartford, NY) at the 10:48 mark in the period for the only goal of the stanza.
Trailing by a pair of goals in the third period, Brockport continued to apply the pressure in the Plattsburgh defensive end of the ice and had several good scoring opportunities before Ryan cut the lead to just a single goal with his second goal of the night and Brockport's third power play goal of the game.
Luker sent a pass to the slot area where Chase Nieuwendyk (Georgetown, ONT) drew three defenders before threading a perfect pass to Ryan on the right side of the net and Ryan redirected the puck into the open side of the goal making it a 4-3 game with 7:22 to play in the third period.
The Golden Eagles continued to apply the offensive pressure for most of the remainder of the game. With 1:01 left to play, Jake Taylor (Port Perry, ONT) threw a back pass between his legs to the stick of Jeremy DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) on the corner of the net but DeFazio's attempt to stuff the puck into the Plattsburgh goal was stopped at the goal line.
With :30 remaining, Plattsburgh was whistled for a boarding call that would have given the Golden Eagles the man advantage for the remainder of the game but in the confrontation following the stoppage of play, Andrew Parks (Orillia, ONT) was also sent to the penalty box with a cross checking penalty that nullified the power play possibility for Brockport.
In the closing seconds, Plattsburgh was able to clear the puck down the ice to salvage the win.
Senior Aaron Green (Mt. Albert, ONT) finished with 34 saves including 20 in the final two periods for Brockport.
