On Friday Feb. 14, the Geneseo Ice Knights were in the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena for the final time for a 2020 regular season game. That means it was also the last home regular season game for senior forward and team captain Conlan Keenan.
Geneseo took care of business, defeating the visiting Buffalo State Bengals by a score of 4-0. Junior goaltender Aaron Mackay made 18 saves en route to his first career shutout victory.
In addition, Geneseo scored three goals on the power play, marking the 11th time they have scored multiple power play goals in one game this season. Friday’s performance was business as usual for a typical Geneseo power play. Geneseo now has 43 total power play goals, which is seven more than the team with the second-most.
After the game, Keenan reminisced fondly about his past four seasons playing in the Ira. “The last four years here have been life-changing, meeting so many great people and creating a family I will have for life,” Keenan said. “We never give up on each other which creates a great culture for our team. We are so close off the ice that on the ice it translates to our success.”
Keenan was not kidding when he said good relationships off the ice benefit the team’s play on the ice. The next day, Saturday Feb. 15 in Fredonia, Keenan scored his fifth career hat-trick and second of the season in a 4-2 victory.
Following Keenan’s third goal that came 3:57 into the second period, sophomore forward Brendan Miller notched a goal during a Fredonia power play with seven minutes left to play in the second period. After pushing the lead to 4-0, the Ice Knights put 20 shots on goal, but failed to score again. Despite first-year goaltender Matthew Petizian putting up a career-high 27 saves, Fredonia was able to score twice in the final period, ending the shutout.
As for Keenan’s performance, linemate and close friend senior forward Andrew Romano was pivotal as he assisted on all three of Keenan’s goals. Keenan took a moment to recognize the importance of the relationship.
“Playing on the same line as Romano is great because we have so much success together, we just always know where the other one is on the ice and where we are going to be. He really makes it easy to score goals because he sets you up no problem,” Keenan said about Romano. “Off the ice, we are like brothers—we do everything together. If you see one of us, the other one is probably right there and if not, close by. We cook, watch hockey, go to the rink, go to class and even grocery shop together.”
Keenan and Romano have produced 122 goals combined. As one of the top scoring duos in all of Division III hockey, Romano has registered assists on 47 out of 84 (56 percent) of Keenan’s goals. On Romano’s goals throughout the past four years, Keenan has assisted on 24 of 38 (63 percent) of them.
Keenan and Romano are not only integral for each other’s successes, but also for the Geneseo Ice Knights’ success as they have now clinched the number one overall seed in the SUNYAC for the third straight year.
Geneseo has one more regular season game before the postseason starts. They will travel to SUNY Brockport for a tune-up game on Saturday Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.