The No. 14-ranked Geneseo Ice Knights continued SUNYAC play last weekend, gaining three points in their defeat of SUNY Fredonia 5-2 on Friday night and skating to a 1-1 tie against Buffalo State on Saturday.
Geneseo started off the scoring against Fredonia when junior defenseman Danny Scagnelli scored his third goal of the year. The Ice Knights took a 2-0 lead later in the first period when junior Jonathan Redlick scored a power play goal on assists from Scagnelli and fellow sophomore defenseman Colin de Jersey.
After Fredonia pulled within one late in the first, Geneseo padded its lead in the second period when junior David Arduin scored off of assists from sophomore Ryan Bulach and Scagnelli. Bulach then stretched the lead to three goals a few minutes later before Fredonia scored on a breakaway to make the score 4-2.
“Tough and physical is exactly what we did,” assistant coach Kris Heeres said. “We were really happy with the first two periods.”
In the third period Fredonia outshot Geneseo 12-6 but was unable to cut into the lead. Sophomore Adrian Rubeniuk made 36 saves in net for Geneseo.
“We made some of those mistakes we don’t want to make in the third period,” Heeres added. “But [Rubeniuk] was able to make the big saves when we needed it.”
Late in the third, junior Stefan Decosse scored an empty net goal to bring the score to 5-2. He got assists from freshman Zachary Vit and Scagnelli, who made his fourth point and third assist of the game.
“Scags has been unbelievable,” Heeres said. “He’s making all the right decisions about jumping into the play.”
On Saturday, Geneseo came away with a 1-1 tie against Buffalo State. The Ice Knights dominated possession for most of the game, especially in the second period when they outshot the Bengals 18-7. Redlick scored the only goal of the game for Geneseo when he put a rebound under the goalie’s glove in the second period. Vit had the assist on the play.
“When you have a period like that and you only have one in the back of the net, you have a little bit of a strange feeling because you know you gave up some opportunities,” head coach Chris Schultz said. “If you do that, it’s going to come back and bite you and that’s exactly what happened in the third period.”
In the third, Buffalo State scored the tying goal early in the period. Geneseo was unable to retake the lead despite having six power play opportunities and outshooting Buffalo State 45-23, not including about 15 would-be shots that were blocked by Bengal defenders.
“We did everything in our power to win that game,” Schultz said. “We just didn’t find a way to get that second puck in the net.”
Junior Cory Gershon made 22 saves for Geneseo, including stopping a two on zero matchup in overtime. “[Gershon] did what both goalies have been doing for us all year, giving us a chance to win,” Schultz said.
Geneseo improves to 4-1-2 on the season and stands in second place in the SUNYAC with 7 points at 3-1-1. This weekend they head on the road to SUNY Brockport and Hobart College.