After a scoreless first period, the Geneseo Ice Knights tallied three goals in the second period and held on for a 3-1 victory over the Hobart Statesman in the consolation match of the Rochester Hockey Cup on Saturday.
Geneseo went 2-for-7 on the power play, and outshot Hobart 38-31.
“We’re making the mistakes in front of our net, in the D zone,” said Hobart coach Mark Taylor. “If we can win those stick battles, we can turn these games around.”
As most consolation games are, this one started out lackluster. Neither team had much jump in the first period.
But Geneseo got going first early in the second period. On the power play, Jack Staley sent a pass towards the Hobart crease from a sharp angle, and Pat McKendry redirected it in to the net for the 1-0 Ice Knight lead.
Geneseo’s Dave Bagley scored off a scramble in front at 6:57 for the eventual game winner.
The Ice Knights staked themselves to a three-goal lead at 9:44 with another power-play goal. Kyle Langdon took a slap shot from the point that Hobart netminder Chris Connolly saved. But Geneseo’s Bryan Bowser was there on the doorstep, and a strong second try was enough for Bowser to tuck in the rebound for the goal.
Hobart slowly got stronger as the game went on, and its efforts finally paid off early in the third period. Senior captain Tim McCarthy stole the puck at the Hobart blue line, and streaked in to the Geneseo zone all alone. He deked Geneseo’s netminder Jeff Phelps and put the puck in the back of the net for the goal.
Hobart pressed more throughout the third period, and pulled the goalie with 2:03 remaining, but couldn’t get any more goals.
