BROCKPORT TROUNCED BY BUFF STATE

Chris Luker (New Hartford, NY) scored the lone goal for The College at Brockport men's ice hockey team, but the Golden Eagles fell on the road 6-1 to Buffalo State in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) matchup on Saturday evening.

Buffalo State jumped out to a quick lead, scoring two goals in the first period.

14 seconds into the second period, the Bengals scored another goal to push their lead to three.

Buffalo State took advantage of the power play throughout the second period. The Bengals scored three more goals, all on the power play to go up 6-0 heading into period three.

Brockport managed to hold the Bengals scoreless in the third period, but could not overcome their early deficit.

Luker recorded his goal on a power play with under three minutes to play in regulation.

Andrew Winsor (Coburg, ONT) tallied 31 saves in net for Brockport.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Thursday, Jan. 9 for a home game against Western New England at 7 pm.

BROCKPORT TIES FREDONIA

Chris Luker (New Hartford, NY) had a goal and an assists for The College at Brockport men's ice hockey team, but the Golden Eagles had to settle for a 3-3 tie as Fredonia evened things up in the final minute of regulation on Friday evening in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) matchup.

Chris Cangro (Holbrook, NY) got things started for the Golden Eagles in the first period, scoring just 2:56 into play. Andrew Winsor (Coburg, ONT) came up big for Brockport in the net, making 14 saves and keeping the Blue Devils scoreless for the period.

33 seconds into the second period, Luker notched his goal to put the Golden Eagles up by two.

Fredonia took advantage of a power play halfway through the second period, cutting the Brockport lead back down to one.

With 45 seconds remaining in the period, Bobby Conner (Lititz, PA) ripped a shot off a pass from Luker to put the Golden Eagles up by two again.

Brockport held onto its lead for the majority of the final period. The Blue Devils cut the score to 3-2 under seven minutes to play.

In the final minute, Fredonia scored with an extra attacker on the ice after the Blue Devils pulled their goal keeper to even things up.

Both teams had opportunities in the overtime period to take the lead, but neither could come up with the finish they needed.

Winsor finished the game with a total of 36 saves.

The Golden Eagles return to SUNYAC action again on Saturday evening. Brockport travels to take on Buffalo State for a 7 pm game.

STYLUS ARTICLE ABOUT NICK UNGER

This week's Brockport Stylus features an excellent article by Brandon Wood about assistant coach Nick Unger...

If you look at the statistics from last year’s massive recruiting class for the College at Brockport’s ice hockey program, it’s clear how much of an impact these players had in their first season. With 14 freshmen joining the team for the 2012-13 season, they made their presence felt throughout the year.

Last year’s freshmen can claim they scored more than half the teams goals, assists and points for the team last season. 

Sophomore forward Jesse Facchini was 15th in the SUNYAC with 16 assists last season. Sophomore goalie Jared Lockhurst, who was also recruited heavily by SUNY Oswego, chose to come to Brockport and ended up being ranked sixth in goals against average, fourth in save percentage and was voted to the All-Rookie squad as Brockport’s starting goaltender.

Last year’s recruiting class was the first one that was brought in under Assistant Coach Nick Unger, who said he focuses heavily on recruiting for the program along with power play duties and working with the goalies and defense.

Unger also helped bring in more immediate contributors to current team, as freshman forward Jake Taylor leads Brockport in goals with four, and freshman forward Nick Marinac is tied for the team lead with nine points.

Unger said his prowess for recruiting comes from a similar position he held at Nichols College (Mass). 

“I was successful [with my first couple of recruiting classes] because I came from a school (Nichols) where I was taught very, very well how to recruit,” Unger said. “I was at a school of 2,000 students with a rink about 30 minutes from campus. They have a very expensive school and there were a lot of hurdles to get across to build a winning team.”

He said his experience as head recruiter for Nichols helped prepare him for recruiting at Brockport and helped lead him to a successful start with his first recruiting class.

“They prepared me for some of the challenges you see in recruiting. You go from a situation where you can build a winner that ends up going 25-4 and in the NCAA tournament, winning championships. If you’re able to do that in an atmosphere like that, coming to Brockport where you have a great town and a great campus and a great rink, the school really sells itself from there.”

Unger said he thinks Brockport has many qualities about it that makes it easier to sell to potential recruits coming to campus. But what does an average visit to Brockport entail for potential players?

One of the more common visits for potential recruits entails an overnight visit, and Unger said he makes sure he shows potential recruits all the positive things there are at Brockport.

Unger said a recruiting visit starts in the SERC to provide a “wow factor.” Afterward, he introduces the players to the rink that he described as “a big selling point for [Brockport], because we have a really nice rink on campus.”

The rest of the day includes a tour of campus dining and other major features Brockport has to offer.

“Showing the campus is a big key [to recruiting] because we do have a really nice campus,” Unger said. “There are a lot of talking points along the way that you can help sell the recruit on. Especially when you talk to recruits on the phone, you get a sense of what they are looking for, so you can tailor your visit to suit those needs.”

After dinner in one of the campus dining halls, the recruits will attend a game later in the evening with his family and friends. Following that, the player is set up with other members of the team with who they spend the evening.

“We set [the recruit] up with a few of our guys for the night,” Unger said. “They can see what the living arrangements are like and meet more members of the team. We encourage them to ask questions, because these guys live it every single day. A lot of times, your players are your best recruiters, so we want to make sure [the recruits] get a chance to talk with some of them.”

Unger said he can’t stop with two solid recruiting classes, and it’s important to continue to build strong ones in the coming years as well.

“It’s going to be a process where you have to continue to build class after class after class just so that you are confident that every player on your team can really produce,” Unger said.

Unger, who has brought two strong recruiting classes that have made immediate impacts on the team, said he will continue to recruit more playmakers for the program and wants to have one of the deepest team’s in the SUNYAC.

“We’re really close right now; we really like the team we have,” Unger said. “We still have a young team, but we need to continue to build it every single year so that we’re all on the same page and we’re still building up that level of speed, skill and hockey sense. Every single year we want to be better as a team.”




Source: http://www.thestylus.net/sports/assistant-coach-drives-program-behind-the-scenes-1.3125639?pagereq=1

STYLUS RECAP OF TOURNAMENT GAMES

This week's Brockport Stylus features the following report from Brandon Wood...

In its opening round game of the Rutland Herald Invitational against Manhattanville College, the College at Brockport’s ice hockey team was charged with three game misconducts, a disqualification and nine minor penalties for 68 total penalty minutes. 

The Golden Eagles (2-7-1 overall, 1-3 SUNYAC) lost that game and the consolation game at the tournament held in Rutland, Vt. Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. 

Manhattanville capitalized on the numerous Brockport penalties by scoring three power-play goals to win the opening game 7-3. Head Coach Brian Dickinson said many of the game misconduct penalties were due to talking back to the officials.

“I’m disappointed, and I told the players after that we can’t do those types of things,” Dickinson said. “I told them they can’t mouth off to the officials, and we need to stop taking these types of penalties. It’s the coach’s job to handle the referees.”

Freshman forward Nick Marinac received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for charging the goalie with 6:48 remaining in the first period. Manhattanville scored two power-play goals during the penalty.

All three of Brockport’s goals came in the second period. Sophomore forward Jesse Facchini scored a power-play goal early in the period, while freshman defender Robbie Hall and sophomore forward Chase Nieuwendyk rounded out the scoring for Brockport.

Sophomore goalie Jared Lockhurst was pulled midway through the second period after surrendering his fifth goal of the game on 24 shots by Manhattanville. 

“It seemed like Jared was fighting the puck,” Dickinson said. “He wasn’t moving well. A couple of the pucks that went in during the second period were pucks that went side-to-side and he didn’t get over fast enough. I think his groin that was tweaked a bit from the previous game was still bothering him a bit.”

Freshman goalie Andrew Winsor came in for the remainder of the game, the first action he’s seen this season. Winsor made 21 saves and allowed just two goals.

The bulk of Brockport’s penalty troubles occurred in the third period, when it took 50 total penalty minutes. Freshman forward Jake Taylor was given a ten-minute game misconduct after he was called for a charging penalty with four minutes remaining. Sophomore defenseman Chad Cummings received a 10-minute game misconduct two minutes later for cross-checking.

With 29 seconds remaining, Manhattanville’s freshman forward Nolan Marshall cross-checked senior defenseman Matt DeLuca after a play and received a game misconduct and a five-minute major. Sophomore forward Shane Cavalieri took exception to this and threw a few punches at Marshall.

Both players received game disqualifications and five-minute majors for fighting.

Fighting, while not illegal in NCAA hockey, is rare because the disqualification that comes with it gives players a suspension for the following game. If a player is disqualified again in a season, they will be suspended the number of games equal to how many disqualifications the player has received in the season. Cavalieri served his suspension the following day against Castleton University.

Manhattanville scored a late power-play goal to make the game 7-3 and send the Golden Eagles to the consolation game of the tournament the next afternoon.

In the consolation game, Castleton found the tie-breaking and game-winning goal with 1:02 remaining in regulation to beat the Golden Eagles. 

Winsor, who filled in for Lockhurst the previous night, made his first NCAA start in net for Brockport.

The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early lead nine minutes into the game as sophomore forward Kody Vaisanen scored his first goal of the year. Castleton answered with a goal five minutes later to tie the game.

The Golden Eagles had their goalie to thank for the 1-1 score heading into the first intermission, as Castleton had 22 shots on net in the first frame. Winsor finished the game with 38 saves and stopped 59 of 65 shots sent his way in the two games he played.

“He played great,” Dickinson said. “He went in against Manhattanville and played really well. It wasn’t a hard decision to send him out again [against Castleton]. Andrew did a good job of pushing the puck away from the net and made the saves that he needed to. He was poised, he competed, he battled and as a coach, I was really happy for him.”

Each team scored a goal in the second period, too, with Castleton scoring three minutes into the period and Brockport senior forward Steve Sachman finding the back of the net with a few minutes remaining in the period.

This back-and-forth affair continued into the third period when Brockport jumped out to a 3-2 lead as sophomore forward Michael Zagari scored his first goal of the season three minutes into the period. Castleton tied the game exactly three minutes later with 14 minutes remaining in the game.

With the game appearing to be headed for overtime, Castleton scored the game-winner with just more than a minute left in regulation, sending Brockport home winless over the weekend.

With four straight losses, Brockport will play two critical SUNYAC road games this coming weekend at SUNY Fredonia and Buffalo State. The Golden Eagles have earned just two conference points in four SUNYAC contests and are looking to make up ground as it sits in second-to-last place in the SUNYAC.

“Fredonia and Buffalo State are two teams that we are going to compete for a spot in the playoffs with,” Dickinson said. “We need to have a good week of practice and focus in on Fredonia and then worry about Buffalo State after that. If we can get some conference points, we can head into the break feeling good about ourselves.”




Source:

http://www.thestylus.net/sports/eagles-fists-fly-in-tournament-match-1.3125629?pagereq=1#.UqCaNuKrGFg

BROCKPORT GOES DOWN, 4-3 AGAINST CASTLETON

Freshman Andrew Winsor (Coburg, ONT) made 38 saves including 21 in the first period to give The College at Brockport Hockey team a chance to win the consolation game of the Rutland Herald Invitational Tournament Sunday afternoon but it was a goal by host Castleton with 1:02 left in the third period that gave the Spartans a 4-3 victory in Castleton, VT.

Brockport (2-7-1) opened the scoring with a Kody Vaisanen (Dundalk, ONT) goal at the 8:44 mark of the first period giving the Golden Eagles an early lead.

Late in the period, with six and a half minutes remaining, Castleton (4-3-1) scored to tie up the game as the first period came to a close. In the first 20 minutes of action, the Spartans held a 22-7 advantage in shots but the play of Winsor with his 21 saves allowed the Golden Eagles to take a 1-1 game into the second period.

"Winsor played extremely well today in his first career start," said Head Coach Brian Dickinson. "I am proud of the effort from the whole team especially playing with a short bench. We received great leadership today from a number of guys."

Early in the second period, Castleton took a 2-1 lead with a goal at the 3:10 mark of the period. Brockport played a much more even second period and with 3:30 remaining, tied the game up again as Steve Sachman (Medford, NY) scored and the teams went into the second intermission with a 2-2 score.

Brockport came out firing on all cylinders in the third period and Michael Zagari (McKees Rocks, PA) found himself alone in the slot scoring with a shot to the low glove side to give Brockport the 3-2 lead 2:55 into the final period.

Exactly three minutes later, Castleton knotted the score once again and the teams played nearly the entire final 14 minutes of regulation tied at 3-3.

With less than two minutes remaining, Castleton cleared the puck and moved deep into the Brockport zone before a centering pass found the stick of a Spartan forward that scored the go-ahead goal with 1:02 left on the clock.

Winsor made his way to the bench in favor of the extra attacker for most of the final minute of the game and Brockport was able to apply some pressure in the Spartan zone but could not find the back of the net with the equalizer.

Brockport returns to action Friday resuming conference play with a road trip to Buffalo State and Fredonia as the Golden Eagles take on Fredonia Friday and Buffalo State Saturday in 7 pm games to finish the first semester of games.

MANHATTANVILLE BEATS BROCKPORT 7-3

Freshman Rob Hall (Schaumberg, IL) scored his first career goal and sophomores Chase Nieuwendyk (Georgetown, ONT) and Jesse Facchini (Mississauga, ONT) each added goals for The College at Brockport Hockey team in a 7-3 loss to Manhattanville in the first round of the Rutland Herald Invitational Tournament Saturday afternoon at Castleton, VT.

Brockport will play host Castleton State at Noon Sunday after the Spartans dropped a 4-3 decision to Tufts in the second Saturday matchup in the tournament. Manhattanville will play Tufts for the championship at 3 pm.

Manhattanville (4-4) scored three times in a span of just over three minutes in the middle of the first period to take the early lead. The second and third goals were on an extended power play as Brockport's Nick Marinac (Burlington, ONT) was whistled for a charging penalty as well as a game misconduct.

In the second period, Brockport (2-6-1) had an early power play with a chance to get on the board but instead surrendered a shorthanded goal giving the Valiants a 4-0 lead.

Facchini scored less than a minute later to get the Brockport offense going. Two minutes later, Manhattanville scored to take a 5-1 lead but the Golden Eagles would not give up scoring twice in a span of 1:07 just prior to the midpoint of the period to trim the lead to 5-3. Hall scored his first career goal as a Golden Eagle at the 8:45 mark of the period and Nieuwendyk scored at the 9:52 mark to keep Brockport within striking distance.

Manhattanville added a goal in the wild second period with 5:40 remaining in the stanza and took the 6-3 lead into the third period.

The final period included 70 penalty minutes and a combined five game misconducts and three major penalties with the lone goal in the period coming with just seven seconds left on the clock as the Valiants capped the scoring to come away with the 7-3 win.

Jared Lockhurst (Caledon, ONT) started the game in the Brockport goal and made 19 saves but allowed six goals. Freshman Andrew Winsor (Coburg, ONT) played the final five minutes of the second period and the entire third period making 21 saves and allowing just the late goal in his first action of his career for the Golden Eagles.

STYLUS RECAP OF OSWEGO GAME

Brandon Wood's recap for the Brockport Stylus...

SUNY Oswego’s ice hockey team dominated on the road at the College at Brockport Saturday, Nov. 24. The Lakers cooled off Brockport’s red-hot power play and shut out the Golden Eagles for just the second time this season in a 4-0 win.

With the loss, Brockport (2-5-1 overall, 1-3 SUNYAC) earned no conference points in its first home weekend of SUNYAC play and sits second-to-last in the SUNYAC conference.

“It’s not what we expected,” senior captain Matt DeLuca said. “The thing about this team is that we have the ability to bounce back. If we have an off weekend, we know the next weekend is just that much bigger.”

Brockport had a chance to take an early lead when Oswego freshman Alex Botten hit Brockport freshman Jake Taylor into a board and received a five-minute major and a game misconduct 35 seconds into the game. The Golden Eagles power play, which had scored at least one goal in all of its previous three games, was stonewalled by Oswego goalie Matt Zawadzki.

Four minutes after the penalty was over, Oswego was able to put one past Brockport sophomore goalie Jared Lockhurst, who was in net for the second straight game for the Eagles. The Lakers doubled their advantage with 45 seconds remaining in the first period to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission.

Brockport had two more opportunities in the second period to score with the man advantage, but struggled to produce shots on net. Oswego did a good job of pressuring Brockport while it controlled the puck and clogged up the passing lanes to hold the Golden Eagles to just 26 shots all evening.

Oswego added a goal in the second period and one more in the third as the puck bounced around and Mac Scott threw it into a portion of the net that was wide open.

Brockport’s power play, which entered the game at seventh in the nation in efficiency percentage, was stifled by Oswego and held to 0-for-5 on the evening.

“At the start [of our power play, Oswego] was throwing four defenders across the blue line and really hindering our breakout and that really hurt us,” sophomore Chase Nieuwendyk, one of the main contributors on Brockport’s power play, said. “Once we figured that out the bounces were just not going our way.”

Lockhurst made 22 out of 26 possible saves on the evening. Brockport had a scare when he appeared to tweak his groin during the second period and trainers had to come out to take a look at him.

Brockport was already without junior Aaron Green with a groin injury for the weekend, but Lockhurst remained in the game and said he was fine following the game. Nieuwendyk also left the game, with around seven minutes remaining in the third period after blocking a shot with his right ankle.

The Golden Eagles’ next test comes over Thanksgiving weekend when it travels to Castleton University for the Rutland Herald Invitational tournament. They will play Saturday against Manhattanville College at 3 p.m. and then either Tufts University or Castleton depending on results.

Nieuwendyk said he thinks getting away on the road will be good for the team’s morale.

“I think getting us together playing tournament style and getting some guys in who need some ice time will be good for us,” Nieuwendyk said. “We’ll get some time off for Thanksgiving and then be ready to go.”


Source: http://www.thestylus.net/brockport-pp-held-scoreless-for-first-time-in-two-weeks-1.3123907#.UpMBguKrGFg

STYLUS RECAP OF CORTLAND GAME

Brandon wood of the Stylus penned this recap of the Cortland game...



It was a battle of special teams efficiency at Tuttle North Ice Arena Friday, Nov. 22. SUNY Cortland entered its game against the College at Brockport with a 33 percent conversion rate with the man advantage, while Brockport sat at 31 percent. While Brockport struck twice in the first period and had a lead in the second period, Cortland found two power-play goals in the second period to skate out of Brockport with a win.

“We figured that both teams would get a lot of chances tonight,” Brockport Coach Brian Dickinson said following the game. “They were just a little quicker on their power play. Our penalty kill didn’t do a good job of getting out on their defensemen and they moved it around us pretty great.”

Brockport (2-4-1 overall, 1-2 SUNYAC) found itself in an early 2-0 hole seven minutes into the game as the Golden Eagles had two defensive lapses early in the contest. Cortland freshman Matt Esposito scored a goal when the puck bounced to his stick as he was all alone in the slot four minutes into the game, and senior Adam Bevilacqua scored three minutes later on a breakaway.

Later in the first period, Brockport narrowly missed a power-play goal on its first chance of the night, as sophomore Chase Nieuwendyk scored just seconds after Cortland exited the penalty box. Freshman Nick Marinac received the primary assist on the play.

Brockport scored its next two goals while Cortland was in the box. Junior Bobby Chayka scored the second goal of his career after Marinac made an excellent pass across the ice to find him open in the slot. The shot deflected off a Cortland player to tie the game up at two. That was the score after the first period.

In the second period, Cortland was penalized again for tripping, and this time it was sophomore James Ryan who scored while Brockport had the man advantage to give Brockport the 3-2 lead. Marinac again received an assist on the play, giving him three for the game and a point on every Brockport goal.

Brockport struggled near the end of the second period as it took three penalties. Cortland scored on two of them to take a 4-3 lead into the final period.

“The second period, they drew us into some calls and we got a little frustrated,” Dickinson said. “We took a couple selfish penalties near the end of the period, and they really hurt us.”

Brockport’s power play finished 2-for-3 in the game, while Cortland was 3-for-6 with the man
advantage. Cortland has the best power play in the SUNYAC, scoring 12 goals in 34 opportunities.

After giving up three power-play goals on the night, Brockport’s penalty kill has dipped to 70 percent, which is third worst in the nine-team SUNYAC.

Each goalie made several impressive saves to hold the score where it was in the third period, until Cortland added an empty-net goal in the waning minutes of the third. It counted as a power-play goal because Brockport pulled Lockhurst while a man down. Lockhurst finished the game with 35 saves.

The loss to Cortland puts pressure on the Golden Eagles with No. 8 SUNY Oswego coming to Brockport Saturday night, as they could come away with zero conference points in their first home weekend of SUNYAC play. Lockhurst said he thinks Brockport can forget about its loss to Cortland quickly and will play up to its potential against Oswego.

“It was a big two points we lost against Cortland, unfortunately,” Lockhurst said. “We’ve got a really good team in this dressing room, and we’re going to put a solid performance in against Oswego tomorrow.”

With Oswego falling on the road to No. 15 SUNY Geneseo Friday night, Dickinson said he thinks Oswego could be an angry team coming into the game Saturday.

“I’m sure [Oswego] is going to come in riled up,” Dickinson said. “[Geneseo’s] the first real good opponent that Oswego has really played. Knowing [Oswego Head] Coach [Ed] Gosek and [Assistant] Coach [Mark] Digby, they’ll be working hard tonight to get their kid’s attention.”


Source: http://www.thestylus.net/sports/cortland-hockey-wins-special-teams-battle-against-brockport-1.3123855#.UpMBb-KrGFg