The Knights lineup for a faceoff at center ice against Buffalo State on Nov. 9. The game resulted in a 4-4 tie after three full periods of play and overtime. (Josie Kwan/Associate photo editor)
While students were packing for their Thanksgiving break, the Geneseo Ice Knights were packing in the goals against the Elmira College Flying Eagles on Nov. 20. The 7-1 rout of a non-conference opponent marked Geneseo’s fourth straight win.
Highlighting that win were three powerplay goals from junior forward Tyson Empey, senior defender Duggie Lagrone and junior forward Andrew Romano. Junior forward Conlan Keenan added a goal and two assists.
On Saturday Nov. 24, the Knights packaged up their Thanksgiving leftovers and made the long haul out to Massachusetts to take on two New England Small College Athletic Conference opponents.
First, Geneseo took on the Amherst College Mammoths. Keenan continued his offensive success with a goal in the later minutes of the first period. Both teams were able to score in the second period.
Senior forward Arthur Gordon scored the first goal of the second period, but the Mammoths cut the lead in half just three minutes later. Right before the end of the second period, Keenan netted his second goal of the night to increase the Knights’ lead to 3-1.
The game remained at 3-1 until the final stages of the last period. Senior forward Zach Lynes took a pass from junior defender Tanner Salsberry and junior defenseman Cam Russell for his first goal of the year.
After the remaining minutes ticked off the clock, the Knights secured a 4-1 win to improve to 8-1-1 on the season.
Geneseo had little time to bask in the glory of their fifth straight win as they took on the Williams College Ephs on Sunday Nov. 25.
After being unable to convert on any of their powerplay opportunities for the first time this year against Amherst, Geneseo opened the scoring against Williams with a powerplay goal from Lagrone. Then, with less than a minute remaining in the first period, junior defender Will Campion slammed home a rebound from a Keenan long shot. The assist was Keenan’s 18th point of the win streak and his 25th of the year. Lynes scored his second goal of the year in the second period.
Despite a goal from the Ephs in the third, Geneseo hung on to win their sixth straight game and improve to 9-1-1 on the year.
Senior forward Anthony Marra explained what the win streak meant for the team.
“The win streak represents how our team is sticking to our process which is to get better every day and have a purpose in everything we do,” Marra said. “The win streak honestly hasn’t been mentioned … its business as usual.”
The win streak, however, is anything but usual. The last time Geneseo won six straight games was the 2014-15 season when they won seven straight games from late November all the way into January.
Keenan’s 25 points are good for the most points among any Division III hockey player. Leading the nation in points has been a goal of Keenan’s in the past, and it is now coming to fruition.
“I have always wanted to do the best I possibly could and set goals coming into each season, and being atop of the leaderboard is special, but there is a lot of hockey still left to play so I can’t focus on it, just keep playing how we have been,” Keenan said. “I don’t like looking at it too much. I try to focus on our team game and making sure we win first rather than focus on my points.”
Keenan, as the captain of the Knights, is primarily team driven, and it has resulted in an impressive 11 games thus far. He, however, is not the only Knight atop the nation’s leaderboards.
Romano’s 18 assists place him first in the nation for total assists this season. The pairing of Romano and Keenan on the Knight’s first line is extremely lethal considering they both lead the nation in assists and points, respectively. The pair of scoring phenoms have connected five times this year for a goal, which means half of Keenan’s goals have come from his junior line mate, Romano.
Geneseo’s win streak will face its toughest opponent yet when the Knights take on SUNYAC rivals SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oswego this weekend. They travel to Cortland on Friday Nov. 30 and face Oswego at home Saturday Dec. 1.