From the Brockport Stylus....
Eagles Ice Hockey emerges from rough patch
Dale Budzisewski
Sometimes hockey teams hit rough stretches. Don't believe me? Ask anyone affiliated with the Rochester Americans the last two years.
The Brockport Golden Eagle Ice Hockey team (4-5-1), losers of three straight, and four of five going into Sunday's matinee with the Becker Hawks (2-6-0), were in an Amerks-like funk. Yet, they were able to turn it around and hold on for a 3-2 victory.
Brockport opened up the scoring mid-way through the first period. Senior Rick Stanek's blast from the blue line was saved and rebounded to senior captain Dave McNab, for his team leading sixth goal of the year.
Special teams were one of the major downfalls for Brockport throughout the weekend. They went 0-9 on the man-advantage in the 4-1 loss to Castleton Saturday. When the Hawks took three minor penalties in a period of 20 seconds, Brockport finally ended the scoreless streak.
Freshman Tyler Davis hit Ray Tremblay with a long pass. Tremblay rushed into the Becker zone one-on-one. As the pass was completed, senior assistant captain Mike Gershon noticed the opportunity, and joined the rush. He got the pass from Tremblay right in front of the net, and jabbed it through the legs of Becker goalie Jake Rosenthal for the 2-0 lead.
Gershon's goal was his sixth of the year, tying him with McNab for the team lead. The goal put him in a tie with two other players for the most goals by a defensemen in the country.
The second period began with another Brockport goal, this time Sean O'Malley finding the back of the net for the second time this year, giving Brockport a three-goal lead.
Becker would not give up as they scored two goals with 8:24 and 1:10 to go in the period.
The play that made the game for Brockport came with less than three minutes to go in the third period. Becker freshman Patrick Bellew got in behind Brockport's defense and skated toward Golden Eagle goalie Josh Roarke, who was making his first collegiate start. Freshman defenseman Greg Amato sprawled out to knock the puck away from Bellew. In the process, he knocked down the puck carrier and the referees awarded Becker a penalty shot.
Bellew was chosen to take the shot. After a quick move, he fired a wrist shot to the stick side of Roarke, who got a piece of the shot with his blocker, and deflected it up and over the net. After that play Brockport took back momentum and killed the remaining time, earning a third-place finish in the tournament.
Brockport returns to Tuttle North Ice Arena this weekend for their final first-semester games. They will host Fredonia, Friday, Dec. 5 and Buffalo State, Saturday, Dec. 6, both at 7 p.m.
Saturday's game will be part of a triple header on 89.1 the Point and on 891thepoint.com. The radio station will be in Potsdam covering men's and women's basketball at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m, respectively, with the hockey broadcast following at 7 p.m.
Source:
http://media.www.thestylus.net/media/storage/paper1380/news/2008/12/03/Sports/Eagles.Ice.Hockey.Emerges.From.Rough.Patch-3565961.shtml
