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ANDREW RICHARDSON
Special to the Leader
The Fredonia men’s ice hockey team started a hard-fought weekend in the Tuttle North Ice Arena against SUNY Brockport. This game, which took place on Nov. 20, was extremely close the entire time. For every goal scored, the other team answered.
Going into the third period, this game was tied 2-2. Eventually Chad Cummings scored on the second power play of the day for Brockport, making the final score 3-2. While Brockport scored twice this game on power plays, Fredonia only scored on one power play. Despite the close loss, senior goalie Jeff Flagler had 25 saves.
The ability to execute on power plays was crucial. So what did the Blue Devils do Saturday for their next game against Geneseo? The team only scored three goals on power play. Jimmy Morgan and Michael Freeman, Fredonia freshmen, scored two of three goals for the Blue Devils.
Junior Zach White scored the other goal — his second of the season.
“It’s always nice to be able to contribute on the offensive end, and it came at a time when we needed a goal to get some momentum back in the game,” said White.
Unfortunately, the Blue Devils couldn’t defend any player possessing ownership of the puck on Saturday, letting in a grand total of six goals.
But Head Coach Jeff Meredith is still confident in the team, despite these two heartbreaking losses early in the year.
“This team possesses a lot of raw talent, and you can see that through the freshman. They are scoring more than the seniors did last year,” said Meredith.
Speaking of freshman, Fredonia skated 11 this past weekend.
“Spirit is high. For being such a young team, we played a close game against Plattsburgh, who was undefeated at the time and have played multiple close games this season that we could have won. It is still very early in the season also,” said Meredith.
Persistence was the main tactic that the Blue Devils had in their game plan for SUNYAC play. They tried to maintain their same game plan throughout the game, regardless of the outcome.
The Blue Devils have many leaders on the team, and they are expected to create a positive outlook on the season.
“It is really an honor being picked by my teammates to be a leader in the dressing room. The team we have this year works so hard that it makes life easier on the leadership group,” said senior captain Taylor Bourne. “College hockey is such a short season that things have to be learned quickly, but our team has done a good job so far, and being a younger team hasn’t hindered us.”
This speaks volumes to the confidence the captains and older players have in this team — there is real potential here.
The Blue Devils will travel to Cortland to face off against the Red Dragons this Friday at 7 p.m. and will end the weekend with a game in Oswego Saturday night. Hopefully they can turn around their early season woes on the road, sporting a 3-4-1 overall and 2-4-1 SUNYAC record so far.