For the 25th and final time, the Geneseo Ice Knights took the ice in the regular season, and for the 20th time in a row, the Ice Knights did not lose. Geneseo finished off the regular season with a 6-3 victory over the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles on Friday Feb. 15.
The game did not hold any serious implications as the Knights had already secured first place in their conference. Win or lose, the Knights would be the home team in each SUNYAC playoff game they play.
Even though the game did not have any weight in regard to the standings, sophomore forward Dan Bosio mentioned two things that helped the Knights get pumped up for their last regular season game.
“We’re still contending for that number one PairWise rank so that gives us some motivation” Bosio said.
The PairWise Rankings are a new way to rank the best teams in Division III hockey. Essentially, the PWR was created to be a non-biased mathematical formula to determine the seeding for the DIII Hockey National Tournament. The win helped Geneseo remain ranked number two overall in the PWR.
Another thing that helped Bosio and the Knights play hard in the game against Brockport was the goalie.
“A bigger factor was that [sophomore goalie] Aaron MacKay was getting the start in net,” Bosio said. “As a guy that comes to the rink every day and works as hard as he does, you want to play for him when he gets his chance.”
MacKay recorded 26 saves in his second win of the season.
In the game, Geneseo combined for six goals from six different players. The six goals were assisted by seven different players.
Geneseo will be the No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC playoffs. That placement guarantees the Knights home-ice advantage and a first-round bye. They will play in the semi-finals on Saturday Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena.
“Winning the regular season title is a huge accomplishment as it gives us the chance to play our playoff games in front of the best fanbase in the nation,” Bosio said. “It was kind of our expectation from the start. It was the path we wanted to take to reach our ultimate goals in the post season.”
This is the first time since 2014 that Geneseo has won the SUNYAC regular season. In 2014, the Knights lost 7-6 to Oswego in the SUNYAC Tournament but played into the Final Four of the DIII National Championship.
The longest winning streak for that 2014 team was seven games. Geneseo is currently experiencing 20 games without a loss.
This team is also fueled by some historically good seasons from three of their players, among others.
Throughout all of DIII hockey, junior forward Conlan Keenan finished first in points per game (1.91) and third in goals per game (.91). Junior forward Andrew Romano finished first in assists per game (1.40) and senior goalie Devin McDonald finished first in save percentage (.951), according to NCAA.com.
As a team, Geneseo was the second highest scoring offense (4.92), third best powerplay success rate (.280), highest scoring defense (1.08) and had the largest scoring margin (3.84).
Despite their statistical domination all season, all those stats are erased in the playoffs.