Brandon Wood wrote this report about Friday's game for the Stylus website...
The Brockport Golden Eagles hockey team had nine penalties, one player ejected, gave up two power play goals, and twice found themselves down two men in the last two periods of play during a 3-2 loss Friday against Buffalo State.
Brockport (4-12-1 overall, 3-6 SUNYAC) held a 1-0 lead after a first period where it dominated possession and scored a power play goal by freshman Shane Cavalieri in the waning seconds of the period. Then, early in the second period, Jeremy DeFazio received a penalty for boarding, and the Golden Eagles began to lose their composure.
“I thought we played extremely well [in the first period] and with a lot of energy,” Brockport Head Coach Brian Dickinson said. “We were happy with that and then the penalties took us out of it. We went eight penalties to their zero [to finish the game] and that’s tough to swallow.”
Buffalo State’s first goal came just 11 seconds after DeFazio’s penalty ended on a shot from the top of the left circle by Trevor McKinney to tie the game.
Cavalieri scored his second goal of the night six minutes later, giving Brockport the lead back. This was Cavalieri’s team leading seventh goal for the Golden Eagles.
“I thought he skated hard, he played physical, and he moved the puck while he had the chance,” Dickinson said. “Get to the net with the puck, and good things happen. He got rewarded for it.”
Freshman Michael Zagari was ejected with three minutes left and Brockport was assessed a five minute major penalty for hitting from behind. The Golden Eagles killed off the first three minutes of the penalty, but with 24 seconds left in the second period, Buffalo State’s Nick Melligan beat freshman Jared Lockhurst stick side to tie the game at two.
Just 15 seconds later, Brendon Rothfuss was sent to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct, leaving Brockport down two men for just under two minutes heading into the third.
“When you’re killing a penalty, I’ve never seen a guy [complain to an] official and not get a ten minute misconduct,” Dickinson said. “Officials are usually taught to not penalize the team, but penalize the player instead. This official decided to penalize the team by putting us down two men.”
The Brockport Golden Eagles hockey team had nine penalties, one player ejected, gave up two power play goals, and twice found themselves down two men in the last two periods of play during a 3-2 loss Friday against Buffalo State.
Brockport (4-12-1 overall, 3-6 SUNYAC) held a 1-0 lead after a first period where it dominated possession and scored a power play goal by freshman Shane Cavalieri in the waning seconds of the period. Then, early in the second period, Jeremy DeFazio received a penalty for boarding, and the Golden Eagles began to lose their composure.
“I thought we played extremely well [in the first period] and with a lot of energy,” Brockport Head Coach Brian Dickinson said. “We were happy with that and then the penalties took us out of it. We went eight penalties to their zero [to finish the game] and that’s tough to swallow.”
Buffalo State’s first goal came just 11 seconds after DeFazio’s penalty ended on a shot from the top of the left circle by Trevor McKinney to tie the game.
Cavalieri scored his second goal of the night six minutes later, giving Brockport the lead back. This was Cavalieri’s team leading seventh goal for the Golden Eagles.
“I thought he skated hard, he played physical, and he moved the puck while he had the chance,” Dickinson said. “Get to the net with the puck, and good things happen. He got rewarded for it.”
Freshman Michael Zagari was ejected with three minutes left and Brockport was assessed a five minute major penalty for hitting from behind. The Golden Eagles killed off the first three minutes of the penalty, but with 24 seconds left in the second period, Buffalo State’s Nick Melligan beat freshman Jared Lockhurst stick side to tie the game at two.
Just 15 seconds later, Brendon Rothfuss was sent to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct, leaving Brockport down two men for just under two minutes heading into the third.
“When you’re killing a penalty, I’ve never seen a guy [complain to an] official and not get a ten minute misconduct,” Dickinson said. “Officials are usually taught to not penalize the team, but penalize the player instead. This official decided to penalize the team by putting us down two men.”
While up two men, Buffalo State was able to score what would be the game winning goal on the stick of Brett Hope.
Brockport was called for four more penalties during the third period including a second five-on-three opportunity for Buffalo State, but did give up another goal. The Brockport penalty kill, which is fourth best in the league, killed off five of seven Buffalo State power-play opportunities.
“The team’s been doing well on the penalty kill all season,” said Brockport captain Mike Hayward. “You have to keep the guys confidence up on the bench, but it’s tough when you keep taking penalties like that.”
Lockhurst, who finished the game with 40 saves, spoke highly of his defenders play in front of him.
Brockport was called for four more penalties during the third period including a second five-on-three opportunity for Buffalo State, but did give up another goal. The Brockport penalty kill, which is fourth best in the league, killed off five of seven Buffalo State power-play opportunities.
“The team’s been doing well on the penalty kill all season,” said Brockport captain Mike Hayward. “You have to keep the guys confidence up on the bench, but it’s tough when you keep taking penalties like that.”
Lockhurst, who finished the game with 40 saves, spoke highly of his defenders play in front of him.
“I can’t say enough about how they’ve played this year for me,” Lockhurst
said. “We knew that offense was going to be a little tough to find this
year. But guys have been playing extremely well for me, back-checking
hard, and keeping the shots to the outside of the net.”
Despite not playing in nine games this season, many due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in Nov. against Elmira, Lockhurst finds himself second in the SUNYAC in save percentage, having made 285 saves and allowing just 22 this season.
Lockhurst was heavily recruited to play for Oswego State, among other teams, but says he does not regret choosing to come to Brockport to play for the Golden Eagles.
“We’ve got a great up and coming team here,” Lockhurst said. “Our record doesn’t indicate the team we have here. We’ve got a lot of freshman here in the lineup, and I think teams are going to start being worried about us in the next couple of years.”
Brockport is still in the hunt for a SUNYAC playoff spot, and it is currently tied for sixth with Fredonia, the team it hosts Saturday night at 7 p.m. The top six teams make it to the SUNYAC playoffs.
Coach Dickinson stressed the importance of his team getting a result against Fredonia, as they only have two home SUNYAC contests remaining on their schedule. Fredonia lost Friday against Geneseo 5-0.
“We wanted to put ourselves in a position during the first part of our schedule while we were at home to have as many points as possible,” Dickinson said. “Coming into this weekend, we had ourselves in a playoff spot but we’re going to have to find a way to battle against team’s we know we’re going to fight against for a playoff spot.
“[Fredonia] will be another big test with a team that’s similar to us. Then we’re going to have to go on the road and find a way to get points. I think it’s going to take at least four wins, if not four wins and a tie to get a playoff spot. We need to come out tomorrow, play well, and hopefully get some momentum on our side before we hit the road.”
Despite not playing in nine games this season, many due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in Nov. against Elmira, Lockhurst finds himself second in the SUNYAC in save percentage, having made 285 saves and allowing just 22 this season.
Lockhurst was heavily recruited to play for Oswego State, among other teams, but says he does not regret choosing to come to Brockport to play for the Golden Eagles.
“We’ve got a great up and coming team here,” Lockhurst said. “Our record doesn’t indicate the team we have here. We’ve got a lot of freshman here in the lineup, and I think teams are going to start being worried about us in the next couple of years.”
Brockport is still in the hunt for a SUNYAC playoff spot, and it is currently tied for sixth with Fredonia, the team it hosts Saturday night at 7 p.m. The top six teams make it to the SUNYAC playoffs.
Coach Dickinson stressed the importance of his team getting a result against Fredonia, as they only have two home SUNYAC contests remaining on their schedule. Fredonia lost Friday against Geneseo 5-0.
“We wanted to put ourselves in a position during the first part of our schedule while we were at home to have as many points as possible,” Dickinson said. “Coming into this weekend, we had ourselves in a playoff spot but we’re going to have to find a way to battle against team’s we know we’re going to fight against for a playoff spot.
“[Fredonia] will be another big test with a team that’s similar to us. Then we’re going to have to go on the road and find a way to get points. I think it’s going to take at least four wins, if not four wins and a tie to get a playoff spot. We need to come out tomorrow, play well, and hopefully get some momentum on our side before we hit the road.”
