Photo by Meghan Guattery
JOHN CULLEN
Staff Writer
In the first game of the weekend series against SUNY Canton, the Fredonia men’s ice hockey team fell behind early in the first period before responding with four goals of their own in less than 12 minutes to take a 4-1 lead into the second period.
After the Canton Kangaroos scored a goal off of a flukey bounce behind the net, Fredonia junior Zach White — who is best known for his stellar defensive play — opened the scoring for the Blue Devils as he stepped to the middle of the offensive zone and ripped a shot high and to the blocker side to tie the game at one.
Less than a minute and a half later, with Fredonia on a power-play, freshman Jimmy Morgan picked up a loose puck in front of the Canton net and buried his seventh goal of the season. This gave the Blue Devils a lead which they would hold onto for the rest of the night.
White would add his second goal of the night on a cleanly executed 3-on-2 rush when he caught a pass from freshman Bobby Polachek, just inside the blueline, then faked a shot before roofing the puck in the top left corner of the net to put Fredonia up 3-1.
“We got down one goal real quick, so it was good to get the momentum back and put a couple in the net — it’s been a while,” joked White. “On the second one, I got up in the play, [Polachek] made a nice play to get me the puck, and I put ‘er in the back of the net.”
Polachek was a force to be reckoned with all game, as he finished with five points, adding a second period goal to his four assists on the night.
Photo by Meghan Guattery
Fredonia would continue their offensive outburst the rest of the game with freshman Todd Schauss, sophomore Sam Wilbur and senior Taylor Bourne all chipping in with one goal a piece.
Blue Devil freshman netminder Eric Bogart continued his strong play, making 39 saves and earning the victory between the pipes as Fredonia cruised to a 7-2 victory in the first game of the weekend.
The second game of the series was the 10th annual Pink The Rink game at Steele Hall. The Blue Devil players and game officials donned pink jerseys during the game which had been purchased by individuals, student groups and families, with all the proceeds going to the American Cancer Society for Breast Cancer Research.
After Friday’s game saw a total of nine goals scored, Saturday’s contest had a much different feel, as solid defensive play and some great goaltending from both teams resulted in a 2-1 victory for the visiting Kangaroos.
The opening period featured strong neutral zone play on both sides, with each goaltender coming up with timely saves to keep the game scoreless.
With just under seven minutes remaining in the second period, Canton sophomore forward Josh Sova got the visitors on the board first when he drove to the front of the net and one-timed a puck past Bogart.
Blue Devil junior Marcus Ortiz responded for the home team just 38 seconds later, picking up his own rebound and making a strong play in front of the net to beat Kangaroo freshman goalie Josh Erickson for his ninth goal of the season.
The rest of the game had the feel of a playoff contest, the two teams traded scoring chances and played a very physical brand of hockey until SUNY Canton broke the tie with eleven minutes left in the final period.
Sophomore forward Erik Hallin put the Kangaroos in front when he caught a pass in the slot and walked across the front of the net to score his first collegiate goal that would hold up as the game winner.
Despite being perfect on the penalty kill, the Blue Devils went 0 for 7 with the man advantage and were unable to tie the game on a late powerplay.
The game finished with Canton hanging on to their one goal lead and winning by a final score of 2-1.
Despite losing the game, Blue Devil assistant captain Hunter Long was able to put things in perspective.
“Obviously we didn’t get the results that we wanted, but there [are] so many other people going through a lot tougher things than losing a hockey game,” said Long. “It meant a lot to all of us to be able to play for something bigger than hockey and to show support to all those people who have been affected by cancer.”
Following the game, the officials and players passed their pink jerseys off to their owners during a jersey ceremony. Among those recipients was President Virginia Horvath, who stepped forward to accept an official’s jersey in honor of the late Liz Praetorious, Fredonia’s vice president for Finance and Administration. Horvath plans to have Praetorius’ last name put on the jersey before presenting it to Praetorius’ family in Saugerties, New York at a later date.
Photo by Meghan Guattery
The Fredonia Men’s Ice Hockey team’s donations to the American Cancer Society have now exceeded over $70,000.
Next week the Blue Devils get back to SUNYAC play when they host the Brockport Golden Eagles on Friday night at 7 p.m., then travel to Geneseo to face the Ice Knights at 7 p.m on Saturday.
*John Cullen currently serves as Goaltending Coach for the Fredonia men’s ice hockey team.