The Bengals women’s hockey team nearly upset the No. 1 ranked Plattsburgh Cardinals on Saturday afternoon in a 3-3 tie.

Although the Bengals suffered a 3-0 loss on the day before to Plattsburgh, they were fighting for a much different result this time around on their Senior Day.

Unlike the day before, the Cardinals set the tone first on Saturday when Bri Carroll scored on a power play goal, assisted by Christine Harris, with 4:36 left in the first period.

Plattsburgh showed why it is three time national champs in division III, however, in the second period, controlling the puck for most of the period. The Cardinals netted two goals by Sarah Wolf and Elizabeth Viola, respectively.

Although the Bengals were limited to four shots in the second period, one of those shots was by Natasha Steinle who wristed it right past Cardinals’ goalie Kassi Abbott. The goal came off a Bri Carroll steal in Plattsburgh’s own zone with nine seconds to go in the second.

The scoring did not stop as Plattsburgh quickly got back on top with a goal by Melissa Sheeran, less than five minutes into the third period. However, Buff State answered back  when Erin Gehen blocked a shot, scooped up the puck and turned it into a 2-on-1 situation that led to a Harris goal, tying it at three.

The Bengals would later receive the luck of the draw when they got a power play that would sink into overtime with 1:25 left in the third period on a tripping penalty by Hannah Kiraly.

No shots or goals were managed by either team however in overtime, with the closest chance being a breakaway by Gehen in which the puck just missed Brooke Krantz for an opportunity to break the tie in the final seconds of overtime.

Nevertheless all the Lady Bengals celebrated with a big group hug in front of Justine Silva’s net, celebrating their earned tie against the nation’s No. 1 ranked team and their seniors Hannah Tarr, Heather Neuberger and Viivi Vaattovaara.

The Bengals attained their first point against Plattsburgh in program history as they had previously lost all 33 games to the Cardinals going into Saturday.

With the tie, the Bengals managed to clinch a home playoff game in the ECAC West against Potsdam on Thursday.