It’s All Settled … For Now
The regular season is over. For six teams, the second season begins. But first, a look back at what transpired this past weekend.
The first key match-up of the weekend was Buffalo State at Morrisville. It turned out to be a case of the freshman goaltender outdoing the senior goaltender. Morrisville outshot the Bengals, 44-20, yet Kevin Carr stopped every single one of them while Caylin Relkoff only stopped 17. The 3-0 victory clinched third place for Buffalo State, the highest finish in school history.
Taylor McGraw led things off with his first collegiate goal and point at 7:07 of the first period. Sean Murray scored on the power play at 8:25 of the second. Then, the killer came 1:06 later while shorthanded thanks to Trevor McKinney’s 17th of the season.
This meant the next key match-up was Morrisville hosting Fredonia. The Mustangs needed to win in order to host for the first time ever. Morrisville tried everything they could to do just that, but blew a 3-0 lead, losing in overtime, 6-5.
The early lead was built on goals by Rob Sgarbossa, Derek Matheson, and Ryan Marcuz, the first two on the power play 32 seconds apart in the opening period. Fredonia then scored three in a row — even strength (Brett Mueller), power play (Bryan Ross), and short-handed (Billy Sanborn).
Morrisville retook the lead on a Matheson power-play goal before the second period ended. Fredonia took its first lead of the game, scoring twice in the first half of the third period by Mat Hehr and Ross. Tyler Swan tied it up on the power play with 2:46 left in regulation.
Hehr scored the game-winner on a power play in overtime. The loss for Morrisville meant they travel to Plattsburgh on Wednesday instead of the other way around.
However, at least they made the playoffs, and we’ll have plenty of coverage this busy week, with previews before the play-in round and the semifinal round, as well as a play-in wrap-up after the first round. We’ll also have game coverage from one of the semifinal contests.
Last week’s picks got me a 5-2 record to finish the season out at 91-31-9 (.729).
Other Highlights
– It was close after two periods, as Oswego led Geneseo 1-0. Then Oswego blew it open in the final period en route to a 7-1 win, thanks to two power-play goals, a short-handed goal (Owen Kelly), a hat trick by Chris Laganiere, and five assists by Ian Boots. Paul Beckwith made 28 saves.
– Oswego also had no problems against Brockport, despite falling behind 1-0, winning by the same 7-1 score. They outshot Brockport, 54-19. Boots and Paul Rodrigues both got a pair of goals.
– Plattsburgh also had an easy time, cruising by Potsdam, 9-2. Patrick Jobb got a hat trick, Vick Schlueter scored short-handed. Ryan Williams and Josh Leis shared duties in net. The win enabled Plattsburgh to stay home for the first round of the playoffs.
– Cortland ended its season with a 5-3 win over Brockport. Jarrett Gold got his 100th career point, becoming the 10th player in Cortland history to do so. The game was nip and tuck for the first two periods until Jake Saville’s third period power-play goal put the game away. The scoring ended when Brockport’s Tom Galiani scored on a penalty shot. Dan Jewell made 40 saves for the win.
– The weekend started out well for Geneseo with a 6-3 win over Cortland. However, Geneseo was behind after one period, 3-2. Then, the Ice Knights scored four unanswered second period goals, including a Michael Forgione short-hander, to pull away. Zachary Vit had two goals and two assists.
SUNYAC Players of the Week (selected by the conference)
Player of the Week: Ian Boots, Oswego (F, Jr., Akwesasne, N.Y.). Tallied eight points on two goals and six assists during 7-1 wins over Brockport and Geneseo this past weekend. In Friday’s victory, Boots tied the game at 1-1 with a power-play goal midway through the first period to jumpstart the offense before adding another goal and an assist in the third period. During Saturday’s contest, Boots posted five assists in a six-goal third period, with two assists coming on the power play and another coming while short-handed.
Rookie of the Week: Joel Zangara, Cortland (D/F, Buffalo, N.Y.). Has switched between defense and forward this season, scored his first two goals of his career in back-to-back games this past weekend. In a 6-3 setback to Geneseo, he netted his first career goal late in the first period to give the Red Dragons a 3-2 lead. In a 5-3 win versus Brockport, Zangara scored the game winner with a one timer in front during the second period.
Goaltender of the Week: Kevin Carr, Buffalo State (Fr., Unionville, Ontario). Recorded his third career shutout, backstopping the Bengals to a 3-0 victory in the regular season finale at Morrisville Friday night, despite being outshot 44-20.
