AIDAN POLLARD
Sports Editor
For the second year in a row, Blue Devils hockey have had their playoff run ended by the Geneseo Knights.
After being nationally ranked multiple times throughout the season, Fredonia suffered a 5-2 loss on Saturday to the No. 2 in the nation Knights.
“The first period went right,” said Fredonia Head Coach Jeff Meredith.
Meredith went on to talk about how holding up against a team as strong as Geneseo was a positive of the game and how Geneseo’s defense and ability to retain possession of the puck contribute to their game.
“They have the puck a lot. They defend extremely well,” he said.
The last time the Blue Devils and the Knights met in the playoffs was last season’s SUNYAC Championship game, where Fredonia suffered a 7-1 loss to end their season.
This year, the two teams met in the semi-final round after both having nationally-recognized seasons.
The Blue Devils went 15-8-4 overall during the season and 8-6-2 in the SUNYAC to place themselves in the playoffs.
Fredonia advanced to the semi-final round after a 3-2 overtime win against Buffalo State on Feb. 20.
“We had a lot of control over our emotions,” said Meredith about the Buff State game.
Meredith went on to say how contracting only one penalty during that game, as well as the team having strong control over themselves, helped bring them to the win.
There was a stark contrast between the composure of the Buff State game and the Geneseo game.
After a 1-1 score going into the second period, Geneseo blew the game open, scoring four goals in the second. Fredonia responded with one goal in the third period.
The Fredonia goals were scored by junior Max Blitz in the first period and senior Jimmy Morgan on the power play in the third.
Geneseo’s goals were scored by Andrew Romano and Tyson Empey on the power play and Conlan Keenan, Dan Bosio and David Szmyd during regular play.
Fredonia scored on one of three power play chances, and Geneseo took advantage of two of the five chances they were given.
“I thought early in the second [was where] we started to unravel,” said Meredith. “We took penalties and didn’t have control over our emotions.”
Throughout the game Fredonia contracted 12 penalty minutes on six infractions, with Victor Tracy and Tyler Riter both taking two penalties each.
Blue Devil senior Eric Bogart was in net during the game, and he was credited with 33 saves on 38 shots on goal.
Bogart played a full 60 minutes for his last collegiate game.
Among the other seniors were captain Mike Freeman, assistant captain Kyle Jelinski, Bobby Polachek, Todd Schauss, Luke Rivera and Jon Carlson.
“There’s a lot to dissect at the end of the season before you move forward,” said Meredith. “You have to set an agenda of areas you want to work on.”
Meredith went on to talk about how losing eight seniors will have a strong impact on the leadership and culture of the team.
“You have seniors leave every year. A lot of [leaders], great people, culture guys,” said Meredith. “[It will be] interesting to see how [current players] will fill the void.”