The young season has already produced emergency calls to the cardiologists.
Buffalo State was cruising along in Geneseo, leading the Ice Knights, 3-1. Geneseo scored first on a Corbin Rosmarin goal at 1:18 of the first. The Bengals tied it at 5:07 with a Dave Lansdowne tally.
Drew Klin scored a power-play goal in the second, and Jim Durham produced a two-goal lead in the third. Both goals came at the 8:05 mark of their respective periods.
“In terms of our play, we were terrible,” Geneseo coach Chris Schultz said. “There were turnovers in every zone. We probably played about 10 of the 60 minutes.”
Those 10 minutes came at the right time. David Arduin scored a power-play goal with 6:20 left in regulation. Then came the inconceivable.
“With the empty net, we just threw every puck we possibly could at the net,” said Schultz.
One of those pucks thrown at the net was tipped by Zachary Vit past the goaltender. There was .9 of a second left on the clock.
“The way we managed to comeback was really something,” Schultz said. “It was awesome. I think what happened in overtime, they were still rattled by the finish and we just jumped all over them on the forecheck and they turned the puck over. And we were in the right spot at the right time.”
Clint Olson scored the game-winner just 17 seconds into the extra period for the 4-3 Geneseo improbable victory.
Quite a turnaround. The defibrillators got their workout.
There were other games that were nail biters. The next day, Geneseo and Fredonia played a hard-fought, tight-checking affair. Rosmarin again scored the first goal, this time in the second period at 3:12. Brad Nunn tied it 20 seconds into the third period. Three-and-a-half minutes later, Arduin scored the winner.
“It’s great SUNYAC hockey,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “Two teams killing each other out there, finishing checks, battling for every inch of the ice, killing off penalties. It was a gritty, greasy game. I was very pleased with how our guys played. They left me not wanting anything more from them.”
“It was a typical Fredonia-Geneseo game,” Schultz said. “Seems like every time we play them, it’s a one-goal game. It goes down to the wire. They play with a lot of energy. You’ve got to come to work. If you get lazy at all, they will take advantage of your laziness. For the most part, we hung there.”
Fredonia was also involved in a close, see-saw game on Friday, tying Brockport, 4-4.
After Fredonia’s Jared Wynia gave his team a 1-0 first period lead on a power play, Brockport scored three unanswered goals (Steve Sachman, Adam Shoff, James Cody) in the second to take a 3-1 lead. Then Fredonia scored three unanswered goals (Andrew Christ, and Mat Hehr at the end of the second, and Wynia again on the power play early in the third) to take a 4-3 lead. Mike Hayward then tied the game on a power play midway through the third.
Other Highlights
– Plattsburgh and Morrisville played a back-and-forth first period before the Cardinals pulled away for a 6-4 win. In that first period, Morrisville led 1-0, Plattsburgh led 2-1, Morrisville led 3-2, and then it was 3-3 at the end of the 20 minutes. Kyle Kudroch scored the last two goals for Plattsburgh, and Curtis Renaud got the first two for Morrisville.
– Morrisville beat Potsdam, 4-1. Todd Hosmer scored the final goal against his former teammates. Colin Breen made 45 saves.
– Oswego shutout Cortland, 6-0. Andrew Hare made 19 saves. Paul Rodrigues and Chris Brown each got a pair of goals.
– After falling behind 1-0, the Bengals roared to an 8-1 win over Brockport. Mike Zannella and Drew Klin each scored twice for Buffalo State, and Kevin Carr made 22 saves.
– Cortland stunned Hobart for a 3-2 nonconference upset, thanks to a pair of power-play goals 35 seconds apart in the last minute of the second period.
– Paul Manderfield wrapped up the scoring for Potsdam with a natural hat trick in the third period for a 14-2 rout over Southern New Hampshire.
– Any thoughts on Oswego taking over the national number one spot after St. Norbert lost on Friday were quickly dashed when the Lakers dropped a 3-2 contest to Utica.
– For you numerologists (like me), here is your useless stat of the weekend: In the Buffalo State-Geneseo game, each team got 29 shots; in the Fredonia-Geneseo game, each goalie made 29 saves.
