Just Keeps Getting Tighter
As we approach the midway point of the conference schedule, the standings continue to remain tight, outside of either end. Oswego remains unbeaten at the top while Brockport remains winless at the bottom. In between, three points separate seven teams.
– Buffalo State won a thriller at home over Brockport, 5-4, in a back and forth game. Brockport took a 1-0 lead, only to fall behind 3-1. The Golden Eagles came back to tie it at three apiece. The Bengals retook the lead midway through the third period, but Brockport re-tied it less then two minutes later. Finally, Mac Balson scored the winning goal with 51 seconds left. Nine different players scored the nine goals.
– The Bengals got three points out of the weekend with a tough 1-1 overtime tie against Geneseo. Nobody scored until after 36 minutes of hockey when Jonathan Redlick gave Geneseo the lead. Trevor McKinney tied it very early in the third period, and that was it. Kevin Carr had to make 44 saves, including four in overtime, for Buffalo State, while Corey Gershon stopped 22 shots on the other end.
– Potsdam ended a three-game losing streak and gave Morrisville their first conference loss, 4-2. The Bears let up the first goal, then scored three unanswered goals. An empty-net goal late clinched the game.
– Morrisville licked their wounds and rebounded with a 3-2 upset at Plattsburgh. The Mustangs took a 2-0 lead and wouldn’t let Plattsburgh come back when the Cardinals scored, extending their lead back to two goals and then hung on when Plattsburgh scored again. Caylin Relkoff made 32 saves.
– Geneseo beat Fredonia, 5-2, but it wasn’t easy. After taking 2-0 and 4-2 leads, they had to hold on after a dominating third period by Fredonia. An empty-net goal finally did in the Blue Devils. Danny Scagnelli got a goal and three assists for the winners and Adrian Rubeniuk made 36 saves with many difficult ones in the final period.
“We played well enough in the first two periods to win,” Geneseo coach Chris Schultz said. “The third period, however, we did not play well. We cannot win games if we play like that. But, we got a good road win.”
Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith was a lot more circumspect after this loss compared to the loss the previous Friday against Buffalo State.
“If you just measure by the results, you would think nothing has changed from last Friday’s loss,” he said. “I’m feeling a lot different today because we worked hard. I thought we did some good things. It comes down to a couple of plays. We’re making progress.”
However, he admitted the next game against Brockport was a must win situation.
“We’re confident. We’re going through a little bit of a difficult stretch. We have to come out with wins. We’ve got to win, no doubt. We’ve got to win tomorrow. That’s what I told them.”
– Win they did, with an uncharacteristic offensive onslaught, 7-0, over Brockport, throwing 47 shots on net. Alex Morton got things going 21 seconds into the game. Bryan Ross led the way with a pair of goals, and Mark Friesen got the shutout with 31 saves.
– Oswego had the other “easy” win for the weekend, defeating Cortland, 6-1. The Lakers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes. Paul Beckwith made 33 saves for the win.
SUNYAC Players of the Week (selected by the conference)
Player of the Week: Chris Cerbino, Morrisville (F, So., Highland, NY) tallied his first two goals of the season. Cerbino scored a power-play goal midway through the third period to propel the Mustangs to a 3-2 road win over Plattsburgh. He also netted the first goal of the game against Potsdam on Friday.
Rookie of the Week: Mac Balson, Buffalo State (F, Lakefield, Conn.) scored his first collegiate goal with 51 seconds remaining in a 5-4 win over Brockport.
Goaltender of the Week: Trevor O’Neill, Potsdam (Jr., Bobcaygeon, Ontario) stopped 30 of 32 shots in Potsdam’s win over Morrisville. O’Neill played all 60 minutes between the pipes with a .938 save percentage as he improved to 2-2 on the season.
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