A look at the national rankings finds a number of New York-based teams among the very best in the nation and logjammed in the top 10. While a lot of focus and discussion has included teams like Hobart, Elmira, Plattsburgh, Utica and even Skidmore, a very strong Geneseo has sort of flown under the radar despite being atop the SUNYAC standings, ranked tied for No. 2, and sporting a 14-2-0 record this season to date. In their final season as a SUNYAC member, Geneseo would love to go out as champions and appear to have the pedigree in a tough conference to make a deep run in March hockey.
“I don’t think we are flying under the radar,” noted head coach Chris Schultz. “Recently we have been where we are on a consistent basis but looking at this team before the season, I really didn’t know what this team was going to be like. We have changed our game a lot with this group and are playing a grittier game. We want to be tougher to play against and have focused on being less east/west and more north/south with a lot of our scoring by committee so far.”
The statistics bear out coach Schultz’s comments as the Knights do not have a 20-point scorer on the roster. While a highly skilled Peter Morgan (6G – 12A – 18 Pts) leads the team in scoring, he is amongst a group of players who have contributed across the roster this season and his assist total is indicative of his buy-in to the new system and style of play.
“Peter is a high-end player and an excellent scorer at this level with his speed game and shot,” stated Schultz. “He didn’t have to buy into this system, but he has and honestly he is getting his chances and has been a little snake-bitten in terms of goals but some of his shots are turning into rebound goals and while they are not the prettiest, they all count on the scoreboard.”
Even the power play which has been clicking at better than 35% is different this year in several ways that lend curiosity to the Knights success with the man advantage. Despite the prolific success rate, the Knights utilize very limited time practicing with their two power play units and it seems to be working just fine.
“I have always believed in practicing power play and special teams every day,” said Schultz. “When Mitch Stephens came to us from Cornell, we both discussed the practice routine over the summer since we both believed in the daily need for man-up work. But this year our usual 10-man, two group units is now a 12-man group that we have rolled out in the game, and they have been successful. Our penalty kill does get more practice time against the scout team acting as the opposition, but our power play has seen little practice time and right now if it isn’t broke, we aren’t going to change it up.”
The Knights have also been blessed with strength and depth in the crease including junior Adam Harris and freshman Jacob Torgner. Both goaltenders have been solid with Torgner (1.14 GAA; 962 SP;7-0-0; 2 SO) posting some impressive numbers in his first collegiate season.
“We recruited “Torgs” and really liked the fact he had a good stick,” said Schultz. “He is like a third defenseman back there and really facilitates our breakout, we haven’t really had anyone since Devin MacDonald that adds the skill and dimension to our team, and it has been a big part of our game on the back end enabling some clean transitions from defense to offense.”
With just nine games remaining on their schedule, the Knights came back from the break having played just the one game with Canton (4-1 win) before finishing the balance of the SUNYAC schedule in their final go-around.
“We played 15 games in the first half,” noted Schultz. “That is a lot of hockey games played to start the season. I like that we got some extra rest before the stretch run and our guys came back ready to go. We have Brockport on Friday and travel to Hamilton for our last non-conference game on the schedule on Saturday. It’s going to be two games against good opponents to get us back to the routine and league points are going to matter a lot. We could lose two games and finish fourth with as tight as the standings are with Oswego, Plattsburgh, and Cortland. We have the Lakers and Cardinals at home in the second half but travel to Cortland which is always a tough place to play. Brockport is up on Friday, and we will worry about the other games when they are next. We are in a good position but need to continue improving on our gritty style for success into March.”
