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JOHN CULLEN
Staff Writer
After nearly upsetting the nationally-ranked Plattsburgh Cardinals on Friday night, the Fredonia men’s hockey team picked up an important two points in the SUNYAC playoff race as it held on to beat Potsdam 3-2 on Saturday in a packed Steele Hall.
Sitting at the top of the conference standings, Plattsburgh wasted little time showing why it is the team to beat in New York as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Kevin Emmerling’s eleventh goal of the season.
The Blue Devils responded in a big way when freshman forward Kyle Jelinski caught a pass from sophomore Sam Wilbur on a 2-on-1 break and buried a shot far side to tie the game at one goal a piece.
“Sammy drove wide and made a great play to get me the puck back door,” said Jelinski. “I was able to walk into it and get a pretty good shot off glove side that beat their goalie.”
With time winding down in the first period, senior Captain Ryan Wilkinson sent a long lead pass to senior Taylor Bourne, who went in alone on a breakaway and flicked a shot past the glove of Plattsburgh goaltender Brady Rouleau to give Fredonia a 2-1 lead going into second period.
The Cardinals battled back and were able to regain the lead with two goals in the second period, and another on a powerplay just a minute into the third period that would be the eventual game-winning goal.
Fredonia was able to cut the Plattsburgh lead to 4-3 on a powerplay goal of their own from Bourne, his second of the night, coming with seven minutes left in regulation.
Some penalty calls, which fans and players found to be questionable, put the Blue Devils on the penalty kill for the final three minutes of the game. But Bourne was able to get one last puck to the net. However, Rouleau made what would be the save of the game as his outstretched elbow was able to keep the puck out of the net just as the buzzer went ending the game 4-3 for Plattsburgh.
The second game of the weekend saw the Potsdam Bears visit Steele Hall to face off against the Blue Devils in what would turn out to be another nail-biter as Fredonia hung on to win 3-2.
Fredonia would score the first goal of the game just over five minutes into the first period on a powerplay goal from freshman Bobby Polachek. Junior Marcus Ortiz started the play by driving to the high slot on his forehand and ripping a wrist-shot that was blocked in front. Polachek battled through two defenders to get his stick on the rebound that put the Blue Devils up 1-0.
The next 20 minutes of play featured some well-executed neutral zone play from Fredonia that limited Potsdam’s offensive opportunities and seemed to frustrate the visiting Bears.
Midway through the second period Blue Devil freshman Luke Rivera was able to gain some bragging rights on his older brother Jake Rivera, a senior forward for Potsdam, as Luke scored his sixth goal of the season when he fired a rolling puck towards the net that caromed in off of a Potsdam defender.
“It felt good to be able to score in a tight game like that to help the team, and obviously it was nice to get one against my older brother,” said Rivera. “I was taught growing up to ‘always shoot the rollers’ and it definitely paid off in that situation.”
Shortly after Rivera doubled Fredonia’s lead, junior forward Hunter Long was able to score a highlight-reel goal on a tic-tac-toe play in front of the Potsdam net. After a normal-looking dump in from the Blue Devils saw Potsdam control the puck behind their own net, freshman Jimmy Morgan got on his horse and forced a turnover with his hard work.
Morgan collected the loose puck and made a heads up play to find a streaking Long in the slot who one-timed the puck past Potsdam netminder Trever Ralph, putting Fredonia up 3-0.
The visiting Bears were able to get back in the game less than five minutes later when they converted on a powerplay on a beautiful shot that beat freshman goaltender Eric Bogart.
Bogart had a strong game between the pipes for Fredonia making 34 saves for the all-important SUNYAC victory.
Potsdam was able to make it a one goal game late in the third after the Blue Devils were unable to clear the puck out of their zone, but Fredonia played stout defense from there and finished the game strong to earn a 3-2 victory.
The Blue Devils return to action next weekend when they host SUNY Canton on Friday and Saturday nights, at 7 p.m. The annual Pink The Rink game — an event held to support the American Cancer Society and breast cancer research— will be played on Saturday. A special jersey ceremony will immediately follow the game.
Photo by Kyle Vertin
*John Cullen currently serves as Goaltending Coach for the men’s ice hockey team.