The Geneseo Ice Knights had an up and down weekend at home, destroying Potsdam 7-2 last Friday before falling to Plattsburgh 5-0 Saturday.
Going into the game, Geneseo coach Chris Schultz knew that Potsdam goalie Rick Miller's weakness was up high.
"Their goaltender has a unique style that we took advantage of," said Schultz. "He went to the butterfly on every shot with his arms at his side."
In the first period, however, the Ice Knights didn't get too many chances to test that theory, as they were outshot 16-7 and seemed a little flat.
The start of the second period looked like more of the same, as back-to-back Geneseo penalties gave Potsdam a 5-on-3 power play. Potsdam converted as the Knights' first penalty expired to take a 1-0 lead.
From that point on, it was all Geneseo, as Schultz's report on Miller proved accurate.
Junior Jeff MacPhee opened the scoring by blasting a shot from the point above Miller's left shoulder to tie the game at one.
Just four minutes later, Geneseo converted short-handed. Junior Sebastian Panetta scored on a rebound off sophomore Michael Forgione's breakaway. The Ice Knights then capitalized on a 3-on-1 with beautiful passing from senior captain Chris Kestell to freshman Stefan Decosse and finally to freshman Jonathan Redlick, who went top corner off Miller's shoulder to score.
The rout was well underway by the time senior Kevin Galan scored, again over Miller's shoulder, with three minutes left in the second on an assist by MacPhee.
Geneseo emphasized that point by scoring twice on a 5:00 minute major power play, the first with two seconds left in the second on a blast from the point by sophomore Dan Sullivan, then again 14 seconds into the third period when Galan deflected in a shot by Decosse.
Though Potsdam was able to score a few minutes later, the young line of sophomores Andrew Rygiel and Forgione and freshman Clint Olson responded with a goal of their own to end the scoring at 7-2 Geneseo.
Unfortunately, Geneseo could not afford to enjoy the win for long, as the nation's number two team, the Plattsburgh Cardinals, was coming into town the next day.
Right off the bat the Cardinals proved themselves, outshooting Geneseo 18-0 in the first period and taking a 1-0 lead.
According to Schultz, the hype surrounding Plattsburgh was what defeated the Knights. "I think worrying about strategy is what hurt us the most," he said. "We were more concerned about what they were doing rather than executing what we do well. We quite literally beat ourselves in the first period."
Though Geneseo settled down in the second, Plattsburgh stopped any of the Knights' momentum by scoring their second goal just 27 seconds after killing off an extended 5-on-3 opportunity for Geneseo.
The Cardinals finally put the game out of reach when they scored three goals in a four-minute span late in the third to take the 5-0 lead.
The games bring Geneseo to 2-2-0 and 6th place in SUNYAC play, and gives them a 6-3-0 record overall. The Ice Knights go on the road this weekend to face Cortland and Oswego.