The Geneseo men's ice hockey team earned three points last weekend, tying SUNY Fredonia 3-3 on Friday and defeating Buffalo State 2-1 on Saturday night.
The Ice Knights got on the scoreboard first against the Blue Devils on Friday when sophomore Jake Yard scored on assists from sophomore Stefan Decosse and freshman Ryan Bulach. After Fredonia tied it up at one, Geneseo took the lead again early in the second period as Bulach scored with assists from Decosse and sophomore David Arduin.
That line of Bulach, Decosse and Arduin has been very productive recently for Geneseo. "They do a great job creating offense and maintaining possession in the offensive zone," head coach Chris Schultz said.
"Those three really play well together," senior captain Sebastian Panetta added. "They don't panic and wait for things to develop and I think that is why they have been so successful offensively."
Later in the period, Fredonia added two goals to take a 3-2 lead before Geneseo tied the game with less than three minutes remaining. Sophomore Clint Olson scored the tying goal when the puck bounced off a Fredonia defender's stick into the back of the net while the Ice Knights were on the power play.
Panetta said he was in a two-on-two battle for the puck and got it over to Olson "[I] knew Olson would be wide open in the corner," he said. Olson then attempted to make a cross-ice pass to senior Dan Brown, but the puck instead deflected into the net off the defenseman who was trying to block the pass.
The rest of the third period and overtime went scoreless and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. Freshman Adrian Rubeniuk made 38 saves in net for the Ice Knights and is now 6-6-1 on the season with a goals against average of 2.75.
On Saturday night, Geneseo took a 1-0 lead over Buffalo State late in the first period when sophomore Danny Scagnelli scored his second goal of the season. Decosse then gave Geneseo some breathing room in the second period when he found the back of the net on assists from Arduin and freshman Corbin Rosmarin. Buffalo State got within one late in the third, but Geneseo's defense and sophomore goalie Cory Gershon, who made 22 saves, stood strong as the Bengals were unable to get the tying goal.
One of the biggest reasons for the Ice Knights' success last weekend was their ability to stay out of the penalty box. Geneseo committed only three penalties all weekend and did not allow a single power-play goal.
"Staying out of the penalty box is crucial to our team's success," Panetta said. "Our discipline and decision making has been great lately which is a big reason why we were successful this weekend."
Schultz also stressed the need to play mistake-free. "The more discipline you have, the better you are going to play," he said.
The Ice Knights improve to 6-6-1 in SUNYAC play and are tied with Brockport for fourth place with 13 points. Geneseo will look to break that tie when they travel to Brockport Friday night before coming home for the final two games of the season the following weekend.