The Geneseo Ice Knights traveled to the Tuttle North Ice Arena on Saturday Feb. 22 for their final game of the regular season to face off against the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles. Geneseo came away from the high-scoring affair with a 6-4 victory to round out their season right before playoffs.
Having already clinched the number one seed in the SUNYAC playoffs, the Ice Knights came into this game, seemingly, without anything to play for. The result on the ice, nonetheless, told a completely different story.
Despite a host of injuries to veteran players like senior forward Tyson Empey and senior defenseman Tanner Salsberry and already having the home-ice advantage locked up throughout the SUNYAC playoffs, the Ice Knights took this final trip to Brockport as seriously as they would any other game. The game opened with an utterly dominant first period from the Ice Knights, who took a four-goal lead after the first 20 minutes against a Brockport roster that appeared more and more frustrated as the period went on.
The Golden Eagles ended up committing four penalties in the final eight minutes of the first period, which led directly to first-year forward Tyson Gilmour finding the net in two separate power-play opportunities. In addition to Gilmour’s contributions, junior forward Gordon Helmuth and sophomore defenseman Chris Perna also found the net prior to Gilmour’s pair of goals, helping to forge that 4-0 lead.
In the second period, Brockport came out stronger, yet still allowed two goals. However, the Golden Eagles scored two of their own to keep the game relatively in reach. Helmuth scored a second goal with about three minutes left in the period, and junior forward Carson Kelley also buried one of his chances in the period, scoring 10 minutes into the period.
The final period was relatively uneventful until the last seven minutes, which included Brockport scoring two more goals to put the game within reach for the final five minutes. More penalties were piled on Golden Eagles though, and the Geneseo Ice Knights were able to close the game out for a 6-4 victory. Sophomore forward Henry Cleghorn and senior forward Andrew Romano each contributed a pair of assists in the victory, with junior goalie Aaron Mackay securing the win with 15 saves.
The contributions from players like Gilmour and Helmuth, who each scored a pair of goals for the team, played a massive role in the dominant offensive performance. What makes these performances important going into the SUNYAC playoffs, however, is the scoring depth they were able to showcase for the Ice Knights. Even while missing major players on both sides of the ice, the team was still able to find plenty of goal-scoring opportunities from players who usually don’t have the opportunity to feature in the starting line-up.
If the Ice Knights intend to win the SUNYAC Championship once again, this kind of offensive depth is going to have to be a hugely important focal point in the team’s plans going forward. Looking further forward, with many of the team’s stars moving on and graduating after this semester, the first-year players and sophomores will be granted bigger roles to play on the team going forward, and the manner in which they handle any current opportunities to play may very well play a role in those future chances to carry on the team’s successful legacy.
The Geneseo Ice Knights will host the currently undecided fourth seed for the first round of the SUNYAC playoffs at 7 p.m. on Saturday Feb. 29 in the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena.