The Geneseo men's hockey team continued SUNYAC play on the road over the weekend, dropping their first game against Fredonia and picking up a win against Buffalo State. The Ice Knights (9-4-0, 5-2-0) remain second in the conference, trailing Oswego by only two points.
On Friday, the Ice Knights traveled to play the Fredonia Blue Devils, aiming to avenge last year's 6-1 loss. Although Geneseo outshot Fredonia in the first period 14-9, a power-play goal in the last minute of the period put the Blue Devils ahead 1-0. Geneseo fell behind another goal after Fredonia scored short-handed late in the second period.
Geneseo was finally able to score in the third period when junior Mathieu Cyr was assisted by senior Tyson Terry and junior Steve Sankey, netting his seventh goal of the season on a power play. The Ice Knights were unable to convert any more chances in their 2-1 loss. Junior Derek Jokic made 28 stops on 30 chances in goal for Geneseo.
"We need to improve on two things," said head coach Chris Schultz. "We need a more consistent attack to create turnovers, and better discipline to limit the penalties."
On Saturday evening, Geneseo played the Buffalo State Bengals for the first time since losing to them 7-0 last year at home. The Bengals scored first with a short-handed goal midway through the first period. The determined Ice Knights took the lead in the second period when senior Mitch Stephens and junior Mathieu Cyr scored power-play goals, their third and eighth goals of the year respectively.
The third period featured three more power-play goals for the Ice Knights, including two from junior Trent Cassan. Freshman Sebastian Panetta added the other goal as Geneseo went on to a 5-2 victory. Leading the way for the Ice Knights were seniors Mitch Stephens, who had a goal and two assists, and Mike MacDonald, who had three assists. Stephens now has 29 points on the season, second in Division III. Junior goaltender Derek Jokic picked up the win with 33 saves on 35 shots.
"We used assistant coach [Chris] Line's Clarkson power-play which created a lot of opportunities," said Schultz. "It really confused them because we had never used it before."
The Ice Knights will play their last home game for two months this weekend when they host non-conference foes Curry and Skidmore. Schultz added, "We don't know what to totally expect, but they are both good teams. The games should be very competitive."