SUNYAC Roundup: Jan. 31

By Brandon Wood

@Brandonwood27

There were three SUNYAC games played Friday, Jan. 31 and after the action, the standings* look like this:

*2 points for a conference win, one point for a tie

1. No. 4 SUNY Plattsburgh (8-1-2 SUNYAC) – 18 points

2. SUNY Geneseo (8-1) – 16 points

3. Buffalo State College (6-3-2) – 14 points

4. No. 10 SUNY Oswego (5-3-1) – 11 points

5. SUNY Fredonia (3-4-3) – 9 points

6. SUNY Cortland (3-6-2) – 8 points

7. The College at Brockport (3-5-1) – 7 points

8. SUNY Morrisville (2-8-1) – 5 points

9. SUNY Potsdam (1-8) – 2 points

Oswego, Cortland and Buffalo State didn't play games Friday. Buffalo State has the entire weekend off, and Cortland visits Oswego Saturday night.

Fredonia overtook Cortland in the standings after defeating Morrisville 2-0 at home Friday night. These two teams will play again in Fredonia Saturday. Saturday is Fredonia's "Pink the Rink" game in support of breast cancer. The Blue Devils will wear pink jerseys and the referees for the game will wear black and pink stripes instead of the usual zebra colors.

Geneseo handed Plattsburgh its first conference loss of the season 5-3 in Geneseo. The win put Geneseo alone in second place in the SUNYAC. The top two teams at the end of the regular season receive first-round byes in the tournament. Plattsburgh plays at Brockport Saturday while Geneseo hosts Potsdam.

Brockport defeated Potsdam 4-1 to move within one point of the sixth and final playoff spot. The win coupled with Morrisville's loss gave the Golden Eagles sole possession of seventh place in the conference, as they are two points ahead of the Mustangs.

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Here's the composite schedule for SUNYAC games being played Saturday, Feb. 1:

No. 4 Plattsburgh at Brockport, 7 p.m.

Potsdam at Geneseo, 7 p.m.

Morrisville at Fredonia, 7 p.m.

Cortland at No. 10 Oswego, 7 p.m.

Lockhurst stops 37 in Brockport win

By Brandon Wood

@Brandonwood27

SUNY Potsdam outshot the College at Brockport's ice hockey team in every period and 38-28 in total during its game in Brockport Friday. However, sophomore goalie Jared Lockhurst was on his game and stopped 37 Potsdam shots as Brockport earned two crucial conference points in a 4-1 win.

The Golden Eagles (6-9-3 overall, 3-5-1 SUNYAC) were outshot 8-1 and took two penalties in the first ten minutes of the game. Brockport was being outshot 11-4 when senior forward Chris Cangro scored his third goal of the season for the Golden Eagles on the power play 13 minutes into the game.

Brockport doubled its advantage early in the second period when a shot by sophomore Chris Luker was misplayed by Potsdam goalie Shane Talarico and found the back of the net. There were no players in front of Talarico as the puck appeared to handcuff the senior goaltender and bounce off his glove into his net. It was Luker's fifth goal of the season.

Potsdam answered with a goal of its own with four minutes remaining in the second, but Brockport scored twice in the final frame to secure the win. 

Sophomore Chase Nieuwendyk scored his sixth of a season on a power-play goal and freshman Andrew Parks scored his third after a great individual play by freshman Nick Marinac. Marinac skated through two defenseman past Potsdam's net, bringing both defenseman with him behind the net before passing to Parks who was all alone in the slot.

Brockport, which entered the game ranked seventh in the nation on the power play, went 2-for-6 on the power play while holding Potsdam to 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

"I think we have great puck control," Niewendyk said about his team's power play. "Our biggest thing is that we get pucks to the net off scrambles and we're always attacking."

Lockhurst, who missed part of the season with a groin injury, appeared to re-injure his groin with about nine minutes remaining in the game but remained in the game until the end.

Following the game, Lockhurst confirmed he aggravated the injury, but said he felt good enough to stay in the game. Golden Eagles Head Coach Brian Dickinson said he was unsure who would start in net Saturday against No. 4 SUNY Plattsburgh because of the injury.

"When it happened, I looked over at [Assistant Coach Nick] Unger and said 'Can't anything go easy for us?'," Dickinson said of the injury and Brockport's predisposition for injuries this season. "The trainer went out and came back to tell us Lockhurst wanted to give it a go and Lockhurst made a couple of big saves.

"We'll see how he feels when he wakes up and make a decision on who starts tomorrow at that point."

Dickinson said his team needs to be ready for an angry Plattsburgh team which lost its first conference game at SUNY Geneseo 5-3 Friday night.

"We can expect a hungry wolf tomorrow," Dickinson said. "We've been on the wrong end of some games when Geneseo has beaten Plattsburgh or Oswego and those guys come in here ready to play. Those coaches have been in the league a long time and they know how to get the best play out of their guys."

Nieuwendyk echoed his coach's sentiment and said his team needs to be ready to play a full game Saturday.

"Plattsburgh's a team that never really loses two in a row," Nieuwendyk said. "We have to come out in the first ten minutes and take it to them."

Puck drop between Plattsburgh and Brockport is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Tuttle North Ice Arena Saturday.

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Nieuwendyk and Luker, who both tallied goals, extended their team-leading point streaks to five games apiece. Nieuwendyk (one goal, one assist), Luker (one goal, one assist), Cangro (one goal, one assist) and Marinac (two assists) all had multi-point games for the Golden Eagles.

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Brockport swept Potsdam in their season series for the first time since the 2007-08 season. In the past seven seasons, the Golden Eagles have only swept four total conference series. In addition to the two Potsdam sweeps (including this season), the Golden Eagles swept Geneseo in the 2008-09 season and SUNY Cortland last season.

Teams look to move up conference in SUNYAC play this weekend

By Brandon Wood
@Brandonwood27

SUNY Fredonia currently holds the sixth and final playoff spot in the SUNYAC, but SUNY Morrisville could jump them this weekend by winning both of its games against Fredonia this weekend. Morrisville plays at Fredonia tomorrow and Saturday.

The College at Brockport is another team who could occupy that sixth spot, and that's only if Fredonia and Morrisville split the weekend or a tie and Morrisville winning once. The Golden Eagles would also have to successfully earn all four standings points against SUNY Potsdam and No. 4 SUNY Plattsburgh this weekend.

With Potsdam up first this weekend tomorrow night for Brockport, Assistant Coach Greg Schwind lit into his team during a defensive drill at practice Thursday. Several goals were scored against the defensive units, and Schwind stopped practice to provide extra motivation for his team.

"Do you want to lose these two games?" Schwind said to his team on the ice. "Because if you play defense like this we'll lose both this weekend."

On the ensuing drill after Schwind called his team's defense out, the tempo picked up on the next shift. The line of sophomore Shane Cavalieri, junior Troy Polino and sophomore Jeremy DeFazio cleared the zone relatively quickly. Schwind slammed his stick on the ice in approval of a much better drill from the defensive unit.

Additionally, Brockport could jump past SUNY Cortland into a playoff spot if Cortland loses at No. 10 SUNY Oswego Saturday night and the Golden Eagles pick up all four conference points. Brockport has played at least one less conference game than everyone in the conference except Potsdam and SUNY Geneseo, which dropped out of the USCHO national rankings this week.

Geneseo hosts Plattsburgh and Potsdam this weekend as well. Geneseo looks to avenge its only conference loss which came earlier this season at Plattsburgh.

Buffalo State College does not play any games this weekend.

Here are the current SUNYAC Standings*:

*2 points for a conference win, one point for a tie

1. No. 4 SUNY Plattsburgh (8-0-2 SUNYAC) – 18 points

2. SUNY Geneseo (7-1) – 14 points

3. Buffalo State College (6-3-2) – 14 points

4. No. 10 SUNY Oswego (5-3-1) – 11 points

5. SUNY Cortland (3-6-2) – 8 points

6. SUNY Fredonia (2-4-3) – 7 points

7. The College at Brockport (2-5-1) – 5 points

8. SUNY Morrisville (2-7-1) – 5 points

9. SUNY Potsdam (1-7) – 2 points

The SUNYAC handbook states that the tiebreakers for having the same conference points are as follows:

1. The best record of tied teams against each other based on Conference play (tournament play will not be considered).
2. Number of total Conference wins over ties if points are equal.
3. Goal differential against each other in Conference play.
4. Goal differential against all other Conference teams.
5. Coin flip by Commissioner.

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Here's the composite schedule for all SUNYAC teams this weekend:


Friday, Jan. 31:

Potsdam at Brockport, 7 p.m.

No. 4 Plattsburgh at Geneseo, 7 p.m.

Morrisville at Fredonia, 7 p.m.


Saturday, Feb. 1:

No. 4 Plattsburgh at Brockport, 7 p.m.

Potsdam at Geneseo, 7 p.m.

Morrisville at Fredonia, 7 p.m.

Cortland at No. 10 Oswego, 7 p.m.

Golden Eagles look ahead to Potsdam

By: Brandon Wood
@Brandonwood27

Following a split weekend against SUNY Morrisville, the College at Brockport ice hockey team looks ahead to its next opponent: SUNYAC-worst SUNY Potsdam.

Brockport (5-9-3 overall, 2-5-1 SUNYAC) earned two of a possible four SUNYAC points this past weekend against Morrisville. The Golden Eagles defeated the Mustangs Friday, Jan. 24 7-3, but lost its four game undefeated streak the next night 6-3. That left Brockport in a tie with Morrisville for seventh place in the nine-team SUNYAC and two points behind SUNY Fredonia for the last playoff spot.

This coming weekend, Brockport continues SUNYAC play as it hosts Potsdam Friday, Jan. 31 and No. 4 SUNY Plattsburgh Saturday, Feb. 1. Both games are set for 7 p.m. puck drop at Tuttle North Ice Arena.

When Brockport faced Potsdam on the road in early November, the Golden Eagles won 6-3. Freshman Jake Taylor had two goals and sophomore Jesse Facchini had two assists. The next night, however, Brockport was shut out 6-0 by Plattsburgh's senior goalie Mathieu Cadieux, who currently is fifth nationally in goals against average (1.49) and seventh in save percentage (.941).

The Golden Eagles are looking to sweep their season series with Potsdam for the first time since the 2007-08 season. Conversely, Brockport looks beat Plattsburgh for the first time since its upset win at home Feb. 10, 2012.

Senior defenseman and Brockport captain Matt DeLuca said he doesn't see last place Potsdam as any different than any other team the Golden Eagles faces in conference play.

"I think this upcoming game against Potsdam will be a battle just like every other game," DeLuca said. "We have to have a great week of practice and be prepared for an absolute battle."

Brockport's loss Saturday to Morrisville ended the team's longest unbeaten streak since Friday, Jan. 15 to 22, 2010. The Golden Eagles had not lost in their previous four contests before that.

DeLuca said he thinks his team needs to continue playing as it has been recently to successfully make the SUNYAC playoffs.

"We need to put together a full 60 minutes like we have been doing," DeLuca said. "We're still on a roll here. It was tough play the same team back-to-back but we will be prepared for this weekend."

With just eight SUNYAC games remaining on Brockport's schedule this season, DeLuca said he thinks every game is equally important and that his team needs to look at every game as an opportunity to get two points.

"We need to approach every game with the same mentality," DeLuca said. "I know you're looking for specific games to sort of mark on the calendar [as more important] but if we take care of business every game then it doesn't matter who we're playing. We need to have the mentality that we need points every night."

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Here are the current SUNYAC Standings:

SUNYAC Standings (after Saturday, Jan. 25 games)

*2 points for a conference win, one point for a tie

1. SUNY Plattsburgh (8-0-2 SUNYAC) – 18 points

2. SUNY Geneseo (7-1) – 14 points

3. Buffalo State College (6-3-2) – 14 points

4. SUNY Oswego (5-3-1) – 11 points

5. SUNY Cortland (3-6-2) – 8 points

6. SUNY Fredonia (2-4-3) – 7 points

7. The College at Brockport (2-5-1) – 5 points

8. SUNY Morrisville (2-7-1) – 5 points

9. SUNY Potsdam (1-7) – 2 points

Quick hits: Golden Eagles hockey falls at Morrisville

By: Brandon Wood
@Brandonwood27

It was a tale of two games for the College at Brockport's hockey team. Following a 7-3 win Friday at SUNY Morrisville, the Golden Eagles (5-9-3 overall, 2-5-1 SUNYAC) were unable to pick up another two crucial SUNYAC points in Morrisville Saturday. The final score was 6-3.

With a chance to make ground on SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Cortland who played each other tonight, Brockport was only able to come out of Morrisville the way it entered: tied with Morrisville at seventh place in the SUNYAC. The top six teams make the SUNYAC playoffs, and Brockport hasn't made the playoffs since the 2009-10 season.

With Cortland tying on the road in Fredonia, Brockport remains two points out of the last playoff spot.

The Golden Eagles specialty teams helped win the game Friday night as it scored two power-play goals in two attempts, killed off four penalties and scored its first shorthanded goal of the season.

Specialty teams was a lot more even in Saturdays game, as Morrisville scored an early power-play goal, and scored on two of its five chances with the extra man.

Brockport went two-for-four on the power play, with sophomore forward Chase Nieuwendyk scoring both power play goals, his fourth and fifth of the season, moving him into first place on the team in point scoring with 16 points.

Brockport had an opportunity to get back into the game late in the third period when it was down 5-2. Morrisville took a minor interference penalty and a major penalty a few minutes later. With the 5-on-3 advantage, Nieuwendyk put one in the back of the net, but Brockport wasn't able to score again with more than three minutes remaining in the major penalty.

The Golden Eagles inability to score with the man advantage kept the score at 5-3 and there would be no more goals until Morrisville deposited the puck into an empty net in the waning minutes of the game.

Brockport now sits two points behind the last playoff spot with a big home weekend coming up for the Golden Eagles next weekend. Last place SUNY Potsdam visits Tuttle North Ice Arena Friday, Jan. 31 and SUNY Plattsburgh comes to town the following night. Both games start at 7 p.m.

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Junior goaltender Aaron Green was pulled from the game early in the second period after allowing his third goal on just eight shots. Friday's starter, sophomore Jared Lockhurst gave up two goals on 17 shots against him.

Morrisville's goalie, Jakob Rasmussen, who made just his fourth start of the season faced 38 shots and was able to turn away 35 of them.

Brockport outshot Morrisville 38-25.

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Junior Troy Polino scored late in the first period to tie the game for Brockport, his third goal of the weekend. It was Polino's fifth goal of the season.

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Sophomore Shane Cavalieri, who is tied for the fourth-most points on the team this season, ended a five-game streak in which he recorded a point. Cavalieri has four goals, eight assists and 12 points for the Golden Eagles.

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SUNYAC Standings (after Saturday, Jan. 25 games)

*2 points for a conference win, one point for a tie

1. SUNY Plattsburgh (8-0-2 SUNYAC) – 18 points

2. SUNY Geneseo (7-1) – 14 points

3. Buffalo State College (6-3-2) – 14 points

4. SUNY Oswego (5-3-1) – 11 points

5. SUNY Cortland (3-6-2) – 8 points

6. SUNY Fredonia (2-4-3) – 7 points

7. The College at Brockport (2-5-1) – 5 points

8. SUNY Morrisville (2-7-1) – 5 points

9. SUNY Potsdam (1-7) – 2 points

SUNYAC Hockey Matchups Tonight

By: Brandon Wood
@Brandonwood27

SUNYAC Standings (as of Saturday, Jan. 25.)

*2 points for a conference win, one point for a tie

1. SUNY Plattsburgh (8-0-2 SUNYAC) – 18 points

2. SUNY Geneseo (7-1) – 14 points

3. Buffalo State College (5-3-2) – 12 points

4. SUNY Oswego (5-3-1) – 11 points

5. SUNY Cortland (3-6-1) – 7 points

6. SUNY Fredonia (2-4-2) – 6 points

7. The College at Brockport (2-4-1) – 5 points

8. SUNY Morrisville (1-7-1) – 3 points

9. SUNY Potsdam (1-7) – 2 points

There could be some shaking and moving tonight in the SUNYAC standings. Here are tonight's match-ups:

Oswego can pass Buffalo State for the third spot in the conference as these two teams do battle at Buffalo State tonight at 7 p.m.

The current No. 5, 6 and 7 spots could all be shaken up tonight. Cortland plays at Fredonia with puck drop at 7 p.m. and Brockport is in Morrisville at 7 as well. Brockport could be tied for fifth by night's end or be tied with Morrisville in seventh like it was before SUNYAC play this weekend.

Geneseo defeated non-conference foe Hamilton College 5-1 yesterday and plays another non-conference game at home tonight against Nazareth College. Nazareth knocked off No. 10 Utica yesterday for the team's fourth win.

Plattsburgh and Potsdam are off tonight after Plattsburgh beat the Bears 4-2 last night.

Listen live to the Brockport vs. Morrisville game here: http://morrisvillestateathletics.com/audio/index

@brandonwood27
bwood0227@gmail.com

Specialty teams lead the way to SUNYAC win against Morrisville

By: Brandon Wood


There were many things to take away from yesterday's College at Brockport ice hockey team’s win on the road against Morrisville State College Friday, Jan. 24. While the final score was 7-3, the Golden Eagles (5-8-3 overall, 2-4-1 SUNYAC) special teams and excellent line play gave the team two SUNYAC standings points they so desperately needed.

Specialty Teams Deliver

Morrisville’s penalty kill came into the game second-worst out of 72 NCAA Division III (D-III) teams and Brockport exploited it. Junior forward Troy Polino scored his third goal of the season just seven seconds into early first period power play. Polino also added his season’s fourth goal late in the first period at even strength. Polino had the most shots on net in the game with six.

“You know, playing here in Morrisville, there’s a large neutral zone,” Polino said after his two-goal first period. “The [power-play] goal was the first was a hell of a play by Taylor, we’ve been working on that in practice. And the second goal was a hell of a play by Robby Hall. He threw a backhand sauce hit me going full speed to the other end and I was able to finish.”

Freshman sophomore James Ryan scored the other power play goal for Brockport with three minutes remaining in the second period.

“[Morrisville] was cheating up to the point and they know sophomore defenseman Chris Luker has a great shot, so they rushed him and it opened up the seam,” Ryan said of the power play goal. “Luker made a play down to the seem and Chris Cangro made a great feed to me in front of the net.”

Brockport finished 2/2 on the power play against Morrisville, meaning the Mustangs have allowed 35 power play goals this season. Morrisville’s penalty kill percentage is an appalling 64.7 percent. The Mustangs have stopped just 62 of the 94 shorthanded situations.

Not only was the Golden Eagles power play working well tonight, but the penalty kill held the Mustangs to zero goals in four attempts. Brockport’s penalty kill ranks 50th in the penalty kill stopping 78.8 percent of attempts (67/85).

The last special teams note is that Brockport scored its first shorthanded goal of the season Friday. Jake Taylor scored his second goal of the period while Brockport was a man down and team-leading eighth goal of the season. Entering play Saturday, just nine of 72 D-III have yet to score a shorthanded goal.

Multiple Point Games

With Brockport scoring a plethora of goals tonight, many players had multi-point games for the Golden Eagles:

1.Freshman forward Jake Taylor (two goals, one assist).

2. Junior forward Polino (two goals, one assist).

3. Sophomore forward Shane Cavalieri (one goal, two assists).

4. Sophomore defenseman Chris Luker (two assists).

5. Senior forward Cangro (two assists).

6. Freshman defenseman Rob Hall (one goal, one assist).

4th Line is the Best Line?

Head Coach Dickinson put together the line of Jeremy DeFazio-Troy Polino-Shane Cavalieri prior to the Golden Eagles’ second half beginning. It’s safe to say he’s been happy with the results it has put up at even strength.

In the previous four unbeaten games, which is the program's longest undefeated streak since January 2010, this line has produced four goals, six assists and 10 points.

They are listed as the fourth line for the Brockport lineup, but the line is called on to skate more minutes than average fourth-liners would.

Morrisville plays better in second games of back-to-back games at home

With the new SUNYAC schedule this season pertaining to Morrisville, teams will either travel to Morrisville to play two nights in a row, or Morrisville travel to play two games on the road to play a back-to-back with them on the road. Teams will alternate who gets the back-to-back home games or road games against the Mustangs on an every other season basis.

While on the road, Morrisville (2-7-1 SUNYAC) came away with a measly 0-4-1 record on the road while facing SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Cortland on the road earlier this season.

At its home arena IcePlex, Morrisville is 1-7-1 in conference play this season with its lone win coming against Buffalo State Saturday, Nov. 9. Morrisville has played well in the second-half of back-to-backs at home this season, however.

The Mustangs followed up a 7-5 defeat to Buffalo State Friday, Nov. 8 with a 5-3 victory the following night. Later in the season when nationally-ranked SUNY Plattsburgh came into town, the Mustangs were drubbed 7-1 Friday, Nov. 1 and gave Plattsburgh a close game, falling 4-3 in regulation.

First year Morrisville Head Coach Kevin Krogol said he sees both positives and negatives to this new system SUNY has introduced.

“It’s definitely a little more beneficial than it has been in the past,” Krogol said. “Obviously in the past we were the odd man out without a travel partner. Before, we were always playing a rested opponent Saturday night and that isn’t fair.

“Personally, I’d still like to be in a situation where you play a team each semester. You get to play a team twice early or late in the semester and then you don’t get to play them again. But I can’t complain with the way it is now, it’s a lot better than it was in the past.”

SUNYAC Update

Along with the two points Brockport earned Friday, the final scores in SUNYAC contests helped their cause for the playoffs as the Golden Eagles moved within one point of overtaking Fredonia for the last SUNYAC playoff spot. The last time the Golden Eagles made the playoffs was the 2009-10 season. That means no players on this current roster have played a SUNYAC playoff game for Brockport in their career.

With SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Cortland falling to SUNY Oswego and Buffalo State College tonight, respectively, nobody at the bottom of the SUNYAC gained points except Brockport.

In order for the Golden Eagles to pull alone into the sixth and final SUNYAC playoff spot is by defeating Morrisville tomorrow night and Cortland defeats Fredonia on the road.

There are many scenarios that would allow the Golden Eagles to be tied for that final playoff spot depending on the scenario, but losing to Morrisville would allow the Mustangs to end up tied with Brockport again in the standings.

As a reminder, the top six teams make the SUNYAC Playoffs every season and they begin this year Wednesday, Feb. 13.

SUNYAC Standings (as of Saturday, Jan. 25.)

*2 points for a conference win, one point for a tie

1. SUNY Plattsburgh (8-0-2 SUNYAC) – 18 points

2. SUNY Geneseo (7-1) – 14 points

3. Buffalo State College (5-3-2) – 12 points

4. SUNY Oswego (5-3-1) – 11 points

5. SUNY Cortland (3-6-1) – 7 points

6. SUNY Fredonia (2-4-2) – 6 points

7. The College at Brockport (2-4-1) – 5 points

8. SUNY Morrisville (1-7-1) – 3 points

9. SUNY Potsdam (1-7) – 2 points

bwood2@u.brockport.edu

@brandonwood27