Sunday, February 19, 2012

BROCKPORT'S PLAYOFF HOPES END IN SEASON FINALE

The recap of Saturday's game from the Brockport Athletic Department...


Sophomore Steve Sachman (Medford, NY) scored a first period goal to give The College at Brockport a 1-0 lead that held up until the third period before Morrisville tied the score and eventually won with 7.6 seconds left to play after a very questionable penalty call against the Golden Eagles Saturday night in Morrisville.

With the loss, Brockport (9-13-3 Overall, 5-9-2), finished the regular season in a tie with Potsdam for the sixth – and final playoff spot for the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament. The Bears, despite losing both games over the weekend, finished with 12 points but had more conference victories than Brockport and therefore earned the final playoff spot.

In the first period, Sachman picked up a loose puck in front of the Morrisville net and scored to give Brockport the lead.

After a scoreless second period, Morrisville tied the game early in the third period and the game remained tied until a chaotic final few minutes of the contest.

With less than four minutes remaining, sophomore Brendon Rothfuss (Webster, NY) was whistled for a check from behind for a five-minute major and a game misconduct. The penalty was not called until several minutes after the actual play as a Morrisville player was injured and required attention from the athletic training staff. The Golden Eagles played shorthanded for the final minutes of the game and were further handicapped with just 35 seconds left to play when Ian Finnerty (Ardmore, PA) was called for a cross checking penalty to give the Mustangs a two-man advantage.

Just over 20 seconds later, Morrisville scored the go-ahead goal with 7.6 seconds left on the clock.

“I thought we played well for the most part,” said head coach Brian Dickinson. “It's just frustrating because (the call against Finnerty) didn't look like a penalty to me.”

The call put Brockport in a tough position late in the game but the Golden Eagles had chances to score earlier in the game that could have prevented the late-game calls.

“The bottom line is that we didn't do enough offensively to win the game,” said Dickinson. “You have to cash in on the opportunities when you have them especially when you have a 5-on-3 advantage.”

It was the final game for six seniors as Finnerty, Adam Shoff (Port Dover, ONT), Gregg Amato (Ocean Gate, NJ), Brett Jendra (Bolingbrook, IL) and Oliver Wren (Oakville, ONT) played for the final time. The sixth senior, James Cody (Schwenksville, PA) did not play after being assessed a one-game suspension for a hit in the Potsdam game.

“There are six guys that are obviously disappointed right now because they should have had a chance to play at least another game. They will be able to say that they played on a team that beat both Plattsburgh and Elmira in the same year and not many Brockport players can say that.”


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