Potsdam Wins Own Tourney, Oswego Dominates, Brockport Wins Thriller; Conference Play Begins This Weekend
Potsdam State took both games in its own tournament, beating Cortland State, 5-3, and Neumann, 10-1. Cortland defeated Neumann, 8-1, but lost later in the week to Hobart, 4-2.
Meanwhile, both Buffalo State and Fredonia State won two games in the All Sport Invitational. Oswego State scored a huge win over Elmira, 7-3, and Brockport State notched a come-from-behind overtime win against Hobart, 6-5, only to lose to RIT, 10-1. Geneseo State did the opposite, first losing to RIT, 8-4, before defeating Hobart, 3-1. Finally, Plattsburgh State, amidst hazing allegations and suspended players, opened the season with a 7-2 exhibition win over Humber College.
Previous Week’s Results
10/24/00 Findlay - 5, Fredonia - 1
10/27/00 RIT - 8, Geneseo - 4 Chase Tournament
10/27/00 Brockport - 6, Hobart - 5 (OT) Chase Tournament
10/27/00 Buffalo State - 6, Lawrence - 2 All Sports Invitational
10/27/00 Fredonia - 3, Johnson and Wales - 1 All Sports Invitational
10/27/00 Potsdam - 5, Cortland - 3 Pepsi Invitational
10/28/00 RIT - 10, Brockport - 1 Chase Tournament
10/28/00 Geneseo - 3, Hobart - 1 Chase Tournament
10/28/00 Fredonia - 8, Lawrence - 0 All Sports Invitational
10/28/00 Buffalo State - 7, Johnson and Wales - 5 All Sports Invitational
10/28/00 Cortland - 8, Neumann - 1 Pepsi Invitational
10/28/00 Oswego - 7, Elmira - 3
10/28/00 Plattsburgh - 7, Humber College - 2 Exhibition
10/29/00 Potsdam - 10, Newmann - 1 Pepsi Invitational
10/31/00 Hobart - 4, Cortland - 2
UPCOMING GAMES THIS WEEK
11/03/2000 Oswego at Brockport SU 7:00 ET
11/03/2000 Cortland at Geneseo SU 7:00 ET
11/03/2000 Plattsburgh at Fredonia SU 7:00 ET
11/03/2000 Potsdam at Buffalo State SU 7:00 ET
11/04/2000 Cortland at Brockport SU 7:00 ET
11/04/2000 Oswego at Geneseo SU 2:00 ET
11/04/2000 Potsdam at Fredonia SU 7:00 ET
11/04/2000 Plattsburgh at Buffalo State SU 7:00 ET
Team-by-Team Report
PLATTSBURGH — The Cardinals opened their 2000-01 campaign under a cloud of hazing allegations, hosting Humber College in an exhibition game. With various players forced to sit this game out, Plattsburgh State’s depth was tested, but Brendon Hodge notched a hat trick, Guy Come scored twice, and Tyler Keenan and Jeff Hopkins got single tallies. Plattsburgh outshot Humber 48-21 as Niklas Sundberg played most of the game in goal with Frank Barker getting some action in the final 10 minutes. Plattsburgh continues to look forward as they travel to western New York to open conference play at Fredonia and Buffalo State.
POTSDAM — The Bears started the season with their traditional Pepsi Invitational. This time only two teams visited the North Country, so a round -robin format was used. Potsdam State opened up with a 5-3 victory over Cortland State as the Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Mike Snow, Erick Curtis, and Joe Wlodarczyk, the latter two on a power play. After Cortland cut the lead to one, Anthony Greer scored a third-period goal only to be quickly followed by another Cortland goal. Wlodarczyk finally put the game away with his second of the night, an empty-netter, as Todd Manley made 33 saves. Two nights later, the Bears crushed Neumann, 10-1, plastering the net with 56 shots and keeping the tournament trophy at home. Wlodarczyk scored twice again, and Dave Weagle also got a pair. Ryan Venturelli and Matt O’Connor split duties in net. Potsdam hits the road to start SUNYAC play with games at Buffalo State and Fredonia.
OSWEGO — The Great Lakers had one game this past week, but it was a huge nonconference contest as the Elmira Soaring Eagles came into town. Oswego State used size to its advantage, outmuscling the smaller Elmira squad. It paid off in the second period as the Eagles scored four times to break open a 2-1 game. Seven different Lakers scored: Tim Thomas, Chris DiCarlo, Nate Elliott, John Hirliman, Kevin Klesspies, Jim Blosser, and Joe Pecoraro. Joe Lofberg made 31 saves for the win. Oswego will be looking to maintain the momentum in-conference at Brockport and Geneseo.
CORTLAND — The Red Dragons traveled to Potsdam for the Pepsi Invitational to start their season off, by first facing the host team. Cortland State lost to Potsdam, 5-3. After spotting the Bears a 3-0 lead, Scott Louis scored a shorthanded goal then Steve Aiello scored early in the third period to cut the lead to one. Potsdam came right back and scored, but Jeff Olsen kept the game close once again. Cortland couldn’t tie the game up relinquishing an empty netter. John Larnerd and Mark Paine saw action in net. The next night, Cortland took their frustrations out on Newmann in an 8-1 win. Shawn Ruddy scored twice while six other Cortland players got a single goal. Mark Paine made 23 saves for the win. Cortland traveled again, this time to Hobart where they lost to the Statesmen, 4-2. Once again, the Red Dragons spotted the opposition with a lead, this time 2-0, before Greg Menchen scored. After Hobart scored again, Ruddy cut the lead to one only to see Hobart get the final goal. Larnerd made 35 saves in the loss. Cortland stays on the road playing at Geneseo and Brockport.
GENESEO — The Ice Knights hosted the first night of the Chase Tournament facing off against RIT. Geneseo State’s Pat McKendry scored first, but that only seemed to wake RIT up as the Tigers got the next seven goals in the game. Bryan Bowser finally stopped the bleeding with back to back goals in the third. After RIT scored a shorthanded goal, Jon Schnepf got the final tally in the last minute. Kevin Koury and Jeff Phelps both played goal. The next night the tournament continued in Brockport, and Geneseo took third place defeating Hobart, 3-1. The Ice Knights scored all three goals in the second period. The scorers were McKendry, David Bagley, and Bowser. That lead held up despite a Hobart goal 15 seconds into the third period. Phelps got the win with 30 saves. Geneseo goes back home to host Cortland and Oswego.
FREDONIA — After losing to Findlay 5-1 early in the week, Fredonia State got back on track with impressive wins against Johnson and Wales, 3-1, and Lawrence, 8-0. In the Findlay game, Dan Showalter got the lone Blue Devil goal as Fredonia could not stay with a program moving up to Division I. Fredonia then headed to Buffalo State for the All Sports Invitational for two predetermined games. Ari Aberman scored two power play goals in the first period, and Erik Dolesh added a shorthander in the second. A late third period goal by Johnson and Wales was not enough to put a scare in the Blue Devils. Will Hamele made 23 saves for the win. Fredonia had it even easier the next night getting off 53 shots against Lawrence in the shutout win. Dolesh, Tim Pulley, and Dave Mugavero each got a pair of goals. Lionel Crump and Mike Mason got one apiece. Jamie Kosecki blanked Lawrence with 18 saves. Fredonia has a tough opening weekend of conference play as they face Plattsburgh and Potsdam at home.
BROCKPORT — Brockport State hosted the second night of the Chase Tournament, but first they had to travel to Geneseo to face Hobart in the opening game. The Golden Eagles staged a thrilling comeback as they initially found themselves down 4-0 after the first period thanks to three power play goals and one shorthander. Brockport started their comeback with two power play goals by Adam Prescott and Christian Christensen. Dave Braunstein cut the lead to one before the second intermission. After Brockport fell behind by two goals early in the third, two more power plays by Prescott and Nick Smyth knotted the game. Being a tournament game, the overtime went beyond the normal five minutes which was a good thing for the Golden Eagles as Brandon Marineau got the game winner at 13:23 of the extra stanza. Back home in the championship game, Brockport faced RIT. Brockport scored first on a goal by Nate VanKouwenberg, but that was the only highlight of the game for them as RIT scored the next ten goals for a 10-1 victory over the host team. Brockport stays home to face Oswego and Cortland.
BUFFALO STATE — The Bengals opened the season by hosting the All Sports Invitational. The first game pitted them against Lawrence, and Buffalo State came away with a 6-2 victory. After letting up the first goal, Joe Urbanik scored twice. Lawrence tied it up before the Bengals scored four unanswered third period goals. Urbanik got his hat trick, and Todd Nowicki, Rocky Reeves, and Jad Ramsay rounded out the scoring. Harley Pottratz made 24 saves for the win. The next night saw a wild affair as Buffalo State and Johnson and Wales traded groups of goals throughout the game. The Bengals eventually came away with a 7-5 win. Urbanik tallied two more times. Trever Harrington also got two goals with single tallies coming from Pat McDevitt, Reeves, and Stephen Troup. Pottratz again played the whole game in net making 31 saves. Buffalo State hosts Potsdam and Plattsburgh this weekend.
Game Of The Week
Just how much are the off-ice affairs affecting Plattsburgh? We’ll find out for sure in their first SUNYAC game as they face Fredonia. Though Fredonia is not as strong as in their glory days, they always get up against the Cardinals, so this will be a good test for both teams.
