{"id":30756,"date":"2009-11-05T19:27:12","date_gmt":"2009-11-06T01:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2009\/11\/05\/this-week-in-sunyac\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:31","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:31","slug":"this-week-in-sunyac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2009\/11\/05\/this-week-in-sunyac\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in SUNYAC"},"content":{"rendered":"
It didn’t take long for the first big upset involving a SUNYAC team. Morrisville, playing their first game of the season, stunned Elmira, playing their third game, 2-1, in the Thunderdomes.<\/p>\n
“A great win for our program,” Morrisville coach Brian Grady said. “A great confidence boost. I think it’s huge. I told my team afterwards, ‘You beat a nationally ranked opponent on the road on their ice. This is a team that has a lot of speed, All American type players, and made the national playoffs last year.’ The confidence from that will hopefully carry over.”<\/p>\n
The Mustangs took a 2-0 lead scoring a goal in each of the first two periods. Rob Sgarbossa got the first at 15:26 while Adam Hercules scored in the second at 7:01. Elmira got one back in the third at 4:44. At that point, Morrisville hung on despite taking two penalties. They blocked a couple of shots in the last minute when the Soaring Eagles pulled their goalie.<\/p>\n
“We took advantage of our opportunities, and they didn’t take advantage of theirs,” Grady said. “Our goaltender played very well. Made the saves he had to, and also made the saves he shouldn’t have.”<\/p>\n
No surprise Caylin Relkoff was the star of the game. Out shot 58-27, Relkoff stopped 57 — which was just enough.<\/p>\n
But just how did Morrisville beat Elmira?<\/p>\n
“I talked to [Oswego coach] Ed [Gosek], watched a lot of film, and tried to approach them the same way Oswego did [the week before],” Grady said. “We tried to slow them down as much as possible. We obviously don’t have their speed. We tried to get physical with them, tried to stay in front of the puck.”<\/p>\n
Elmira did come back the next night to win 6-2. However, when the game was even strength, it was a 2-2 score. Elmira scored three power-play goals and one with the teams skating four aside. Plus, Morrisville gave up a lot less shots in the game at 35. True, a loss, but still parts of the game you can use as positives.<\/p>\n
Now Morrisville begins their conference schedule traveling to Brockport and Geneseo. How will they try to keep the momentum?<\/p>\n
“Consistency, effort, and execution,” Grady said. “If we do all the little things right every time you go over the boards, you get the big things like wins in the end. Effort and execution will win games for us, and we have a great goaltender.”<\/p>\n
As everyone knows.<\/p>\n
Geneseo has experience from last year with Morrisville’s capabilities when they play at the top of their game.<\/p>\n
“We learned it the hard way last year,” Geneseo coach Chris Schultz said. “They came into our rink in January and went up 5-0. I remember it like it was yesterday. We made it 5-4, but they eventually got the win.<\/p>\n
“They are going to knock some teams off this year. Our players know that. Their players know their roles. They are very well coached. Plus, they got a stud goaltender. He’s a big body who knows how to make the big save.”<\/p>\n
The SUNYAC community received shocking news this week. Potsdam’s Sports Information Director, Boyd Jones, died suddenly<\/a> at his home in Canton, N.Y. this past Sunday. He was 56. Jones, who got a B.A. and Masters from Potsdam, worked there since 2000. Prior to that, he was employed at SUNY Canton in various positions.<\/p>\n