QUINTIN JAMES
Staff Writer
Two weeks ago, the Fredonia men’s hockey team had won two games in a row and were feeling very confident heading into annual Pink the Rink weekend in Steele Hall. Being on the fringe of a playoff spot, the Blue Devils knew they had to come out and defend home ice.
Pink the Rink weekend is always an important event because of the meaning of the game. The event is for cancer awareness and the score isn’t normally the most important thing in the game, but year’s even was all Blue Devils.
The opponent for the weekend was Post University, a DII school, who were looking to rain on the weekend parade. In the game prior to the Pink the Rink game, the Blue Devils beat Post by a score of 14-0.
The first game was dominated by the underclassmen. Sophomore forward Luke Rivera finished the game with a hat trick and an assist while sporting a +/- of +5. Sophomore Kyle Jelinski added two goals and two assists as well to lead the attack.
Talking to Rivera, he said the key to his good game was just sticking to it.
“I tried to be level-headed the whole game. I also had a lot of help from my linemates,” said Rivera. On what it means to the team for the underclassmen to step up and play well later in the season he said, “This is very big for the team. We had a big incoming class this year and we need everyone to produce.”
In his third career start, junior goalie Nick Harper recorded only seven saves for a shootout. The Blue Devils outshot Post by a whopping 71 shots (78-7) and the 14 goals scored by the Blue Devils was the first time that mark has been hit since 2010.
The next day was the annual Pink the Rink game with Fredonia wearing their custom pink jerseys. The Blue Devils, in front of a packed house, made sure to put on a show for the large crowd. Fredonia cruised to a 15-1 win against Post, outshooting them 71-14.
Sophomore forward Jimmy Morgan equalized his season goal total on the night, scoring four goals in the game and leading the team. Senior Marcus Ortiz had a hat trick of his own.
Fredonia ended up raising an estimate of $8,000, which now brings the total to an estimate of $75,000 in 11 years of the Pink the Rink at Fredonia. The proceeds of the event go to the American Cancer Society of Western New York. Money was made in part from the pink jerseys the players and referees wore during the game.
Talking to head coach Jeff Meredith, he said they just played their game and the results showed. “We worked hard and didn’t take any shortcuts. We got off to quick starts and won the special teams game. We also stayed out of the penalty book as well,” he said.
The defense during the weekend was amazing, only allowing one goal. Goalie coach John Cullen said the team has always had a defense-first mindset.
“We did a great job of making turnovers, breaking out, and keeping the puck in the offensive zone. We won the battles in the crease and made life hard for their goalie by putting puck on the net,” said Cullen.
After scoring 29 goals in one weekend, the Blue Devils last week went on the road to play two crucial conference games against Potsdam and Plattsburgh State.
Going into the Potsdam game, the Blue Devils were favored to win the game. With one conference win on the season, Potsdam looked to play the spoiler role in getting a death blow to the Blue Devils playoff hopes.
Unfortunately for Potsdam, the Blue Devils were riding a five-game winning streak and won the game 3-1. Freshman forward had a goal and an assist while sophomore goalie Eric Bogart stopped 36 out of 37 shots as Fredonia keep the good times rolling.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and extended that lead to three in the second and Potsdam just couldn’t solve the mystery that was Bogart. The Blue Devils were outshot 37-31 and lost the faceoff battle 38-34.
With the win, the Blue Devils moved into a three-way tie for third place with Buffalo State and Plattsburgh with a 5-5-1 conference record.
Trying to go 2-0 during the weekend, the Blue Devils played Plattsburgh on the second night of a back to back. The Blue Devils were punched in the mouth out the gate by Plattsburgh and missed a huge opportunity to stay in the third seed for playoff contention.
Senior Hunter Long was the only person to score a goal for Fredonia, and that came in the third period. Plattsburgh had jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, and then added two in the second period to extend the lead to 3-0.
Plattsburgh temporarily jumped ahead of Fredonia in the standings as these two teams and Buffalo State have been fighting for the third spot in the standings for a while.
Coach Cullen talked about how important these final six games are. “You live for this moment. Our coaching staff preaches a one game at a time, one shift at a time mentality. We have great leaders and captains like Hunter Long and Jamie Young.”
When talking about the mood of the team, Cullen was adamant when saying how the chemistry has been extremely high. “The mood is good right now. We know that there’s a job to be done and we all keep each other accountable,” he said.
He said that winning four out of the last six games would be ideal, but with four of the last six games against conference teams and five out of the last six on the road, the Blue Devils will need to be on their game to secure a playoff spot.
The players have been saying that the plan has been working recently, but they are focused on the main goal at hand and won’t get too ahead of themselves.