At this time last year, the Ice Knights held the second-best record in the SUNYAC, and were the two-time defending conference champions. But last year's team set the bar high, and this year's team had nine new faces, with much of its scoring power lost to graduation.
In contrast with last year's season, the Ice Knights entered Friday's game needing to beat the visiting Potsdam Bears to move into the final playoff spot, with only two conference games left to play.
The Ice Knights came out flying in this crucial game, exactly two months to the day since their last victory. Taking advantage of an early penalty, senior Mathieu Cyr scored a power-play goal at 1:50 into the first period via senior Trent Cassan's slick pass from behind the net. Geneseo's success on their first power play would be their only one of the night, as they failed to convert on their final seven opportunities.
Potsdam goalie Rick Miller kept his team in the game by fending off 10 of 11 shots and totaling 34 saves for the game, and Mitch West added Potsdam's lone goal on one of only three shots in the period.
"We could have had a 3-0 lead going into the first intermission," said Schultz. "Obviously, going in tied 1-1 was not where we should have been."
After that first goal by Cyr, the Knights surrendered four unanswered goals, falling three points behind Potsdam for the final playoff spot.
Geneseo entered Saturday night's game needing a win to stay alive in the SUNYAC playoff hunt, not an easy task against SUNYAC leader Plattsburgh, the conference powerhouse.
After falling behind 1-0 in the opening 25 seconds of the first period, sophomore Dan Brown knotted the game up at one for the Ice Knights just 33 seconds later. After early fireworks, the two teams settled in for a typical SUNYAC battle. Both goalies had slow starts, allowing a total of four goals on only 17 shots combined, ending the period at 2-2.
In the second period, the momentum tilted in favor of the Plattsburgh Cardinals. The Ice Knights were outshot 20-3 in the period, and even senior goalie Derek Jokic with his 39 saves could not prevent the Cardinals from tallying two more goals in the second period and another two in the third period, on their way to a 6-3 victory.
The Ice Knights' conference record, at 5-?, was below .500 for the first time since the 2000-2001 season, and the Knights missed the SUNYAC playoffs for the first time in over 10 years.