Buffalo State Wins SUNYAC Game; Oswego Beats Potsdam; Fredonia Moves Into Second After Weekend
It was a week of emotional victories, perhaps the most being Buffalo State winning a conference game and moving out of last place; Brockport State was the victim as they dropped both games. Oswego State had an emotional win over Potsdam State, but lost its contest against Plattsburgh State. Potsdam did win its next game, but all of that opened the door for Fredonia State to briefly move into second place with a weekend sweep. Geneseo State salvaged a poor week with a victory over Buffalo State while Cortland State couldn’t muster an upset as it got swept.
Team-by-Team Report
PLATTSBURGH — The Cardinals continued to roll in the SUNYAC, sweeping another weekend of conference play. First, they disposed of Cortland, but not without a first-period scare that saw Cortland take a 1-0 lead. Plattsburgh quickly made it 1-1 at the start of the second period, and never looked back. Two players scored shorthanded goals, Eric Weidenbach and Jason Kilcan, while three others notched even-strength goals: Derrick Shaw, Brian Toussaint, and Brendon Hodge. The second night was billed as a battle for first place with Oswego coming into town, and for most of the game, a battle it was. Kilcan gave Plattsburgh the early lead, but then they fell behind 2-1. Mark Coletta scored back to back goals to give the Cardinals a 3-2 first period lead. They went up by two on a Joe Dolci goal. After Oswego cut it to one, Kilcan scored his second, and Bryan Murray put the game away in the third period for a 6-3 final. Plattsburgh has an opportunity to really open its lead up at Potsdam, then Plattsburgh hosts Amherst.
FREDONIA — Thanks to other teams beating up on one another, Fredonia found itself in second place after the weekend, helped by wins over Geneseo, 5-2, and Brockport, 4-1. Dave Mugavero scored twice against Geneseo. Christian Fletcher, Lionel Crump, and B.J. Bouschor also scored. Will Hamele only needed to make 17 saves for the win as Fredonia held Geneseo to 19 shots. Against Brockport, all the scoring was completed in the first 21:32 of the game. Fletcher, Matt Aboudara, and Erik Dolesh scored in the first period. Marcel Hurtubise scored early in the second, and that was that, despite Fredonia getting 44 shots on goal. Hamele again got the win, this time with 19 saves. The Blue Devils host Buffalo State and Plymouth State.
OSWEGO — The Great Lakers avenged last year’s playoff loss with a solid 7-3 win in Potsdam. Oswego jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two periods, but faltered slightly in the third period, only getting off two shots and letting in three goals; but this time Oswego was not to be denied. Seven different players scored. Joe Lofberg was outstanding in net, making 48 saves, including 21 in the third period. Oswego continued that momentum partly into the next night taking a 2-1 lead in Plattsburgh on goals by John Sullivan and Jonathon Hoose. However, the Great Lakers ran out of steam eventually, losing 6-3 and dropping back into a third-place tie with Potsdam. Oswego hosts Cortland and then travels to always-tough Elmira.
POTSDAM — The Bears’ luck against Oswego ran out as they were steamrolled for the first two periods in an eventual 7-3 loss. Already down 6-0, Potsdam tried a third-period comeback with a shorthanded goal by Joe Wlodarczyk, only to be scored upon again. A power-play goal by Brendon Knight and a 4-on-4 goal by Kevin Shaver merely slowed the bleeding down, as Potsdam’s loss came despite unleashing 51 shots on goal, 24 in the third period alone. Potsdam bounced back with a 6-2 win over Cortland. Wlodarczyk got the hat trick as well as an assist for a six-point weekend. Mike Snow, Sean Darke, and Mike McCabe got the other goals. Ryan Venturelli bounced back from the night before to get the win with 25 saves. Once again, Potsdam was a shooting machine, putting 57 on Cortland’s net. The Bears host rival Plattsburgh before traveling to Norwich for their second game against the Cadets.
CORTLAND — The Red Dragons were hoping to steal a point or two against the North Country teams, but it was not to be. They lost to Plattsburgh, 5-2, despite holding a 1-0 lead after one on a goal by Dave Ambuhl. After letting in the next four goals, Greg Menchen scored on a two-man advantage. John Larnerd made 33 saves in the lose. Against Potsdam, Cortland again took a 1-0 lead this time on a goal by Menchen. Again Cortland scored a power play goal after letting in a bunch of goals (this time five). The goal was scored by Chris Cullen. Larnerd was in net again facing a barrage of shots, making 51 saves. Cortland travels to Oswego for its lone game this week.
GENESEO — Despite winning one game, Geneseo had a miserable week. First they got embarrassed by Hobart, 8-1. The lone goal was scored by David Bagley. Then they lost to Fredonia, 5-2. Tony Scorsone tied it in the second, but Bagley wouldn’t score the final goal until it was already 5-1. Kevin Koury made 20 saves. The Ice Knights were able to salvage their week with a 5-3 victory over Buffalo State. Bagley scored two more goals. Kyle Langdon, Aaron Coleman, and Bryan Bowser got the other goals. Koury got the win with 24 saves. Geneseo plays at Brockport and then participates in the Hamilton Invitational facing the host team first.
BUFFALO STATE — Stop the presses, folks. Buffalo State is not in last place. They defeated Brockport, 7-4, to move out of the cellar. The solid performance was led by former Brockport player, Henry Jurek, who scored a hat trick and got one assist. Cyle McCorkle, Jeff Lacapruccia, Todd Nowicki, and Joe Urbanik netted the other goals. Harley Pottratz got a well deserved win with 21 saves. The Bengals outshot Brockport, 42-25. The Bengals were looking for a repeat the next night when they scored first against Geneseo thanks to Nowicki. However, Buffalo State was brought back down to Earth, losing 5-3. Sean Mask scored the other two goals. The Bengals travel to Fredonia, then come home to face Plymouth State.
BROCKPORT — The Golden Eagles were swept and fell to last place. First, they lost to Buffalo State, 7-4, despite holding 1-0 and 2-1 leads. After falling behind 5-2, they traded goals the rest of the way. Casey Firko, Nick Smyth, Drew Morley, and Brandon Marineau scored for Brockport. Tom Payment made 35 saves. Marineau scored the next night, but that was all Brockport could muster in a 4-1 loss at Fredonia. Steve Tippett was in nets and made 40 saves. Brockport hosts Geneseo, and then puts on the Jimmy Mac Invitational with predetermined matchups. The Golden Knights will face the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts followed by Skidmore.
Game of the Week
Well, it would be easy to pick some of the travel partner matchups. But we won’t. We’ll save those for when they meet again in the last games of the season, and instead go for a pair of nonconference matchups. Oswego at Elmira will be a rematch of an early-season contest that saw Oswego win handily. However, that was Elmira’s first game of the year, and now the contest is at Elmira. On the other hand, Oswego may be playing even better now. Then there is the Potsdam at Norwich rematch. Was Potsdam’s upset a fluke, or are they capable of playing with the defending national champions?
