Geneseo senior defenseman Mitch Ferguson and sophomore forward Gordon Helmuth (pictured above) line up for a faceoff against Plattsburgh on Friday Jan. 25. Geneseo came out of the game with a 2-0 victory. Senior goalie Devin McDonald recorded his ninth shutout out of the season in the win (Josie Kwan/Assoc. photo editor).
One thing that hasn’t changed for Geneseo students since last semester is the Geneseo Ice Knights’ knack for winning.
Geneseo won their 14th and 15th straight games on Friday Jan. 25 and Saturday Jan. 26. The winning streak began on Nov. 10, 2018 and has included eight shutouts and a 69-10 goal differential. The one thing that was missing from the winning streak was a win against the SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinals.
That changed on Friday when Geneseo squared off against the Cardinals for the first time since Nov. 9, 2018 when Geneseo lost in Plattsburgh to a score of 3-2, their only loss of the season so far.
Before the game, Geneseo celebrated the official certification of a new police dog at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office. Hutch, the new police dog, dropped the puck in the “ceremonial puck drop.”
It was an emotional moment for the community as Hutch is named after Matt Hutchinson, a former Ice Knight and volunteer firefighter who tragically passed away in 2016.
The ensuing first period was uneventful as neither team managed to score. Senior goaltender Devin McDonald made 11 saves in the scoreless first. McDonald finished with 26 saves, good for his ninth shut out of the season.
In lieu of a goal in the first, there was a sense of urgency in the Geneseo locker room during the first intermission, according to senior defenseman Duggie Lagrone. “[The urgency] helps our team be prepared from the drop of the puck,” Lagrone said.
The urgency did eventually result in a goal during the second period when junior forward Conlan Keenan broke the stalemate with his 16th goal of the season.
Late in the second period, Geneseo had to play while being down a player as Lagrone received a holding penalty.
Immediately after Geneseo successfully killed the penalty, Lagrone exploded out of the penalty box and took a long pass from junior defenseman Will Campion. Lagrone, one-on-one with Plattsburgh’s goalie, deposited the puck into the goal, adding some insurance to Geneseo’s lead.
“[The goal was] an excellent penalty kill in the final minutes of the second period that definitely took a lot of [Plattsburgh’s] energy and boosted ours,” Lagrone said.
That 2-0 lead held true for the remainder of the game and Geneseo improved to 17-1-1 on the season.
After an exciting, close win on Friday night, Geneseo had to quickly turn around and play another important SUNYAC game against the SUNY Potsdam Bears on Saturday Jan. 26.
Geneseo got on the board much quicker than their previous game as senior defenseman Mitch Ferguson scored just three minutes into the game. Ferguson scored again eleven minutes into the second period. Ferguson’s second goal came on the powerplay and was Geneseo’s only powerplay goal of the weekend, going 1-12 on powerplay opportunities.
After scoring his fifth and sixth goals of the season, Ferguson credited his teammates for his scoring outburst. “[My teammates] did a fantastic job of going hard to the net and making the goalie’s life difficult. All I did was shoot the puck,” Ferguson said.
The game was essentially over, but Geneseo added three more goals in the third period from first-year forward Henry Cleghorn, junior forward Andrew Romano and senior forward Anthony Marra.
The 16th straight win for Geneseo put them at a pristine 18-1-1 record, sitting proudly in first place in the SUNYAC. The win streak also helped Geneseo hold their second-place ranking in national Division-III lists like USCHO.com and D3Hockey.com.
Geneseo will look to extend their win streak in Canton as they take on the SUNY Canton Kangaroos on Sat. Feb 2.