“It’s not a seven-game series. It’s one game,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “That’s what makes college hockey so exciting.
“It’s the end of the season. It’s playoff time. For the most part, most SUNYAC teams have been playing playoff hockey the past month. It’s been great hockey.”
Which, of course, makes this time of year so much fun. Four teams are left in the SUNYAC, as the semifinals take place Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
We have a very intriguing match up with Plattsburgh at Geneseo and an upset-minded Fredonia traveling to Oswego.
SEMIFINAL PREVIEWS
(All statistics in the previews are for conference play only.)
Plattsburgh (9-7-0, 18-7-1) at Geneseo (10-5-1, 16-7-2)
“Geneseo and Plattsburgh have a lot in common,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said. “For both of us, defense is the key.”
These teams split their season series. In the first conference game of the season for both, Geneseo handily defeated Plattsburgh, 7-3. It began a slow start for Plattsburgh, who went 2-4 in its first six games. It allowed Geneseo to get off to a strong start, losing just once in its first 10 games.
Plattsburgh reversed that trend, and Geneseo ran into some injury problems. When they met again up in Plattsburgh, the Cardinals took a 4-2 win.
Let’s start with the easy premise — if this game comes down to goaltending, the edge goes to Geneseo. The Ice Knights have a superb tandem in Adrian Rubeniuk (2.63 goals against average, .915 save percentage) and Cory Gershon (2.48 GAA, .913 save pct.). Who will get the start is anybody’s guess.
Meanwhile, it’s no secret Josh Leis (2.96 GAA, .874 save pct.) is struggling again.
“We have to play better defensively as a team from the goaltender on out,” Emery said. “Geneseo is a really good defensive team. The only way to beat a defensive team is to play defensive.”
Offensively, Plattsburgh relies on two seniors, Eric Satim (8-12-20) and Dylan Clarke (10-6-16). Yet, despite others helping out, the Cardinals have at times struggled to score. Last week’s game against Morrisville was a prime example of the consequences.
“The fact that we had a 2-0 lead against Morrisville and couldn’t hold onto it really concerns me no matter who we play,” Emery said. “We had really good chances to score in the first period. That’s been our problem all year — taking advantage of our opportunities.”
Geneseo’s top line, which includes three of their top four scorers, Zachary Vit (9-13-22), Jonathan Redlick (8-11-19), and Rich Manley (5-5-10) may not be intact due to injuries. Danny Scagnelli (4-13-17) is the other top scorer in conference games.
Howeverf, defense is the order of the day for Geneseo, which lets up a SUNYAC second lowest 2.62 goals per game. The Ice Knights also have the second best penalty kill percentage at 84.6 percent, slightly behind Oswego. Not that they rely on it too much, because both teams commit very few penalties — 13.1 minutes per game for Geneseo; 9.0 minutes per game for Plattsburgh.
This game may be decided in the first period. Geneseo lets up the least amount of goals in the first period, just eight, than any team in the league. While Plattsburgh allows its opponents to score more goals in the first and third periods than the second. The game which Geneseo won, they took a 3-1 first period lead. The game they lost, it was scoreless after one.
Fredonia (7-8-1, 13-12-1) at Oswego (15-1-0, 22-3-0)
Fredonia comes into Oswego as the sixth, and thus last, seed. Fredonia has been in a similar spot before. Back in 2007, they entered the playoffs as the fifth seed. They beat Buffalo State in double overtime, beat Oswego in overtime, and beat Plattsburgh for the SUNYAC title, all on the road.
The following year, after beating Buffalo State at home, they lost to Oswego on the road.
“They’re defending conference champions, number one ranked team in the country,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “We got to play well, and have to take advantage of opportunities.”
Which is what Fredonia did against Buffalo State going two for two on the power play. The Blue Devils have the third best power play in the league at 23.5 percent. They also have the fourth best penalty kill at 78.4 percent.
“Power plays are a funny thing,” Meredith said. “The thing about power plays, sometimes they get streaky. You look at the numbers, and say, wow. Then you look at parts of the season, and there are draughts. You hope this time of year, you are in the streaky part.”
They will have to hope that is the case, because everything about Oswego is tops in the league — most goals per game (4.94), least goals against per game (1.88), best power play (27.5 percent), best penalty kill (84.9 percent). The only weakness for Oswego is they don’t tend to score much in the second period, but they let up a league low of seven goals in that period.
Scoring is balanced for Oswego. Leading the way is Ian Boots (9-19-28) and Justin Fox (8-17-25). Lately, Oswego has not only been playing very well, but selflessly.
“Seems like our seniors stood up, took charge, and raised our level of play,” Oswego coach Ed Gosek said. “We’ve had balanced scoring all season long. Last weekend, the guys played for one another, unselfishly.
“Beckwith looks like he is back on track.”
Paul Beckwith brings his 1.87 GAA and .932 save pct. into the playoffs.
Fredonia will have their second leading scorer, Jordan Oye (10-11-21), back after serving a one-game suspension. He’ll help alleviate some of the pressure from leading scorer Bryan Ross (10-15-25).
“Obviously, Jordan is a key member of our team,” Meredith said. “But, it’s not an opportunity to sit back and say, okay, Jordan is back, let’s have him go and do it.”
Freshman Mark Friesen is fresh off his first playoff win with a conference GAA of 2.43 and .920 save pct.
Oswego won both match ups this year, 3-0 at home and 5-4 in overtime on the road.
Can Fredonia repeat 2007? In a one-game format, anything can happen.
“When you get to this time of year, you have to have everything going right,” Gosek said. “If one of them are off, it’s anybody’s game.”
“It’s not a seven-game series. It’s one game,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “That’s what makes college hockey so exciting.
“It’s the end of the season. It’s playoff time. For the most part, most SUNYAC teams have been playing playoff hockey the past month. It’s been great hockey.”
Which, of course, makes this time of year so much fun. Four teams are left in the SUNYAC, as the semifinals take place Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
We have a very intriguing match up with Plattsburgh at Geneseo and an upset-minded Fredonia traveling to Oswego.
SEMIFINAL PREVIEWS
(All statistics in the previews are for conference play only.)
Plattsburgh (9-7-0, 18-7-1) at Geneseo (10-5-1, 16-7-2)
“Geneseo and Plattsburgh have a lot in common,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said. “For both of us, defense is the key.”
These teams split their season series. In the first conference game of the season for both, Geneseo handily defeated Plattsburgh, 7-3. It began a slow start for Plattsburgh, who went 2-4 in its first six games. It allowed Geneseo to get off to a strong start, losing just once in its first 10 games.
Plattsburgh reversed that trend, and Geneseo ran into some injury problems. When they met again up in Plattsburgh, the Cardinals took a 4-2 win.
Let’s start with the easy premise — if this game comes down to goaltending, the edge goes to Geneseo. The Ice Knights have a superb tandem in Adrian Rubeniuk (2.63 goals against average, .915 save percentage) and Cory Gershon (2.48 GAA, .913 save pct.). Who will get the start is anybody’s guess.
Meanwhile, it’s no secret Josh Leis (2.96 GAA, .874 save pct.) is struggling again.
“We have to play better defensively as a team from the goaltender on out,” Emery said. “Geneseo is a really good defensive team. The only way to beat a defensive team is to play defensive.”
Offensively, Plattsburgh relies on two seniors, Eric Satim (8-12-20) and Dylan Clarke (10-6-16). Yet, despite others helping out, the Cardinals have at times struggled to score. Last week’s game against Morrisville was a prime example of the consequences.
“The fact that we had a 2-0 lead against Morrisville and couldn’t hold onto it really concerns me no matter who we play,” Emery said. “We had really good chances to score in the first period. That’s been our problem all year — taking advantage of our opportunities.”
Geneseo’s top line, which includes three of their top four scorers, Zachary Vit (9-13-22), Jonathan Redlick (8-11-19), and Rich Manley (5-5-10) may not be intact due to injuries. Danny Scagnelli (4-13-17) is the other top scorer in conference games.
Howeverf, defense is the order of the day for Geneseo, which lets up a SUNYAC second lowest 2.62 goals per game. The Ice Knights also have the second best penalty kill percentage at 84.6 percent, slightly behind Oswego. Not that they rely on it too much, because both teams commit very few penalties — 13.1 minutes per game for Geneseo; 9.0 minutes per game for Plattsburgh.
This game may be decided in the first period. Geneseo lets up the least amount of goals in the first period, just eight, than any team in the league. While Plattsburgh allows its opponents to score more goals in the first and third periods than the second. The game which Geneseo won, they took a 3-1 first period lead. The game they lost, it was scoreless after one.
Fredonia (7-8-1, 13-12-1) at Oswego (15-1-0, 22-3-0)
Fredonia comes into Oswego as the sixth, and thus last, seed. Fredonia has been in a similar spot before. Back in 2007, they entered the playoffs as the fifth seed. They beat Buffalo State in double overtime, beat Oswego in overtime, and beat Plattsburgh for the SUNYAC title, all on the road.
The following year, after beating Buffalo State at home, they lost to Oswego on the road.
“They’re defending conference champions, number one ranked team in the country,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “We got to play well, and have to take advantage of opportunities.”
Which is what Fredonia did against Buffalo State going two for two on the power play. The Blue Devils have the third best power play in the league at 23.5 percent. They also have the fourth best penalty kill at 78.4 percent.
“Power plays are a funny thing,” Meredith said. “The thing about power plays, sometimes they get streaky. You look at the numbers, and say, wow. Then you look at parts of the season, and there are draughts. You hope this time of year, you are in the streaky part.”
They will have to hope that is the case, because everything about Oswego is tops in the league — most goals per game (4.94), least goals against per game (1.88), best power play (27.5 percent), best penalty kill (84.9 percent). The only weakness for Oswego is they don’t tend to score much in the second period, but they let up a league low of seven goals in that period.
Scoring is balanced for Oswego. Leading the way is Ian Boots (9-19-28) and Justin Fox (8-17-25). Lately, Oswego has not only been playing very well, but selflessly.
“Seems like our seniors stood up, took charge, and raised our level of play,” Oswego coach Ed Gosek said. “We’ve had balanced scoring all season long. Last weekend, the guys played for one another, unselfishly.
“Beckwith looks like he is back on track.”
Paul Beckwith brings his 1.87 GAA and .932 save pct. into the playoffs.
Fredonia will have their second leading scorer, Jordan Oye (10-11-21), back after serving a one-game suspension. He’ll help alleviate some of the pressure from leading scorer Bryan Ross (10-15-25).
“Obviously, Jordan is a key member of our team,” Meredith said. “But, it’s not an opportunity to sit back and say, okay, Jordan is back, let’s have him go and do it.”
Freshman Mark Friesen is fresh off his first playoff win with a conference GAA of 2.43 and .920 save pct.
Oswego won both match ups this year, 3-0 at home and 5-4 in overtime on the road.
Can Fredonia repeat 2007? In a one-game format, anything can happen.
“When you get to this time of year, you have to have everything going right,” Gosek said. “If one of them are off, it’s anybody’s game.”
