This weekend will be an important one for the Brockport Golden Eagles. They’ll be hitting the road for the last 2 SUNYAC games of the semester. The team is tied for sixth place in the conference with Morrisvile and Cortland at 4 points each. Brockport must come out of the weekend with at least 2 points or the second semester will be a rough one.
It won’t be easy on Friday night when they travel to Oswego to play the #1-ranked team in the nation. The Lakers are 8-1-0 and have been a powerhouse in DIII, demolishing some of the very best like Elmira (7-2 win) and Plattsburgh (5-2 win) for the first time in 10 games.
They’ve dominated all facets of the game: They’ve scored 55 goals (6.1/game) on the season while allowing only 19 (2.1/game)….all this despite losing 7 of the top 9 scorers from last year.
This season they’re led by Chris Langaniere (9 goals), Eric Selleck, and Justin Fox (6 goals) who already have 20 points each! Selleck averages a robust team-high 2.667 points per game. Even their #4 scorer Jon Whitelaw averages 1.6 points/game.
Their defense is tough and 4 of their defensemen have 12 or more penalty minutes, led by Kevin Huinink and his 25. Their goaltending is slick and is quickly positioning itself as the best unit in SUNYAC. Last year’s breakout goaltender (Paul Beckwith) sports a .930 saves percentage but actually shares time with Kyle Gunn-Taylor (.943 saves percentage).
It’s a scary team. But, the Golden Eagles are not afraid. As a matter of fact, they’re looking forward to it. After demolishing Nichols (winner of 26 games last year) in the Skidmore Tournament they’ve realized that they can beat anyone and that confidence (along with the hunger to beat Oswego) has been in the locker room all week. If any team is positioned to shock Oswego it’s Brockport.
There’s a good chance that Brockport could shock DIII on Friday night.
On Saturday the team heads to Cortland for what should be a victory.
The Red Dragons are 4-5-0 and actually beat Hobart 5-2 on Sunday. They’re a gamey team led by Patrick Palmisano and Jarret Gold who had 32 and 29 points, respectively, last season and are on pace to surpass those totals. Jarret has 8 goals while Patrick has 7. Forward Chris Kaleta (3 points), is the brother of the Buffalo Sabres’ Patrick Kaleta and represents the only physical fellow on the team. They are not a team to mix it up, so Brockport’s hard-hitting style should really throw off their game. Goaltending is done by committee and the Golden Eagles should be able to net at least 4 goals no matter the netminder.
Both games can be heard on WBSU at 89.1 FM and online at http://www.891thepoint.com/. You can also watch the games at http://www.fasthockey.com/
