Coming off a weekend that saw Brockport drop 2 conference games, the Golden Eagles will see action only once this weekend, on Friday night when they travel to Morrisville to play the Mustangs.
There’s no such thing as an easy game in the SUNYAC. Even Morrisville, once considered a lowly cellar-dweller, is downright scary. Ignore their first 2 games, which were a 7-1 loss to Princeton and a 9-2 loss to Elmira. Morrisville shocked the world in last year’s SUNYAC playoffs when they beat Fredonia 3-2 and led #1 Oswego for 2 periods in the following game. Granted, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs without Geneseo’s suspension, but still, what they did when they got there was awesome.
Even though their scoring pace could best be considered cold, that doesn’t mean they don’t try. They have always put a lot of shots on goal when they’ve played Brockport. In a pair of very similar 5-2 Brockport victories the past 2 seasons, Todd Sheridan was the deciding factor, having stopped 44 and 36 shots.
Watch out for their 2 best offensive players, Srgarbossa (21 points in 26 games last year) and Cass (an 8-10-18 line last year). The former is excellent defensively as well.
Brockport must keep Morrisville away from the crease. Knowing that goaltending is one of Brockport’s strengths and can only be beat in numbers, they’ve consistently put 2 guys right on top of the goal – mostly untested, too - as a way to keep the goalie from sprawling. They need to be muscled out of there.
Morrisville also has a few pests to watch out for. Last season they had 7 guys with more than 30 penalty minutes. Some had astronomical totals, like returning defenseman and captain Matheson (52) and forward Hercules (57). Forward Cerbino already has 15 minutes on this young season. If they can be induced into committing a penalty, Brockport’s power play will do well against Morrisville’s lowly-rated penalty kill.
Caylin Relkoff, their goalie, often looks like a man out on an island by himself. He regularly gets buried by shots. He held up admirably last season with a .887 % and 4.21 GAA. He faced well over 30 shots a game, so the defense around him may be a great jumpstart for what has ailed Brockport’s offense this season.
As long as Brockport sticks to the fundamentals, moves the puck efficiently rather than flashily, they should be able to score at least 5 goals on the Mustangs. Brockport really needs to win this game – and handily -- to get back in the SUNYAC race and give themselves an emotional boost. But, to do so, they can’t look at Morrisville as pushovers as many teams have (ask Fredonia and Oswego). Play hard!
Player to watch: Brockport's Oliver Wren. The goaltender has faced plenty of shots this year and Friday night will be no different with Morrisville's slap-happy wingers. He will be tested early and often and will have to show his glove a lot.
The game can be heard on WBSU at 89.1 FM and www.891thepoint.com
There’s no such thing as an easy game in the SUNYAC. Even Morrisville, once considered a lowly cellar-dweller, is downright scary. Ignore their first 2 games, which were a 7-1 loss to Princeton and a 9-2 loss to Elmira. Morrisville shocked the world in last year’s SUNYAC playoffs when they beat Fredonia 3-2 and led #1 Oswego for 2 periods in the following game. Granted, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs without Geneseo’s suspension, but still, what they did when they got there was awesome.
Even though their scoring pace could best be considered cold, that doesn’t mean they don’t try. They have always put a lot of shots on goal when they’ve played Brockport. In a pair of very similar 5-2 Brockport victories the past 2 seasons, Todd Sheridan was the deciding factor, having stopped 44 and 36 shots.
Watch out for their 2 best offensive players, Srgarbossa (21 points in 26 games last year) and Cass (an 8-10-18 line last year). The former is excellent defensively as well.
Brockport must keep Morrisville away from the crease. Knowing that goaltending is one of Brockport’s strengths and can only be beat in numbers, they’ve consistently put 2 guys right on top of the goal – mostly untested, too - as a way to keep the goalie from sprawling. They need to be muscled out of there.
Morrisville also has a few pests to watch out for. Last season they had 7 guys with more than 30 penalty minutes. Some had astronomical totals, like returning defenseman and captain Matheson (52) and forward Hercules (57). Forward Cerbino already has 15 minutes on this young season. If they can be induced into committing a penalty, Brockport’s power play will do well against Morrisville’s lowly-rated penalty kill.
Caylin Relkoff, their goalie, often looks like a man out on an island by himself. He regularly gets buried by shots. He held up admirably last season with a .887 % and 4.21 GAA. He faced well over 30 shots a game, so the defense around him may be a great jumpstart for what has ailed Brockport’s offense this season.
As long as Brockport sticks to the fundamentals, moves the puck efficiently rather than flashily, they should be able to score at least 5 goals on the Mustangs. Brockport really needs to win this game – and handily -- to get back in the SUNYAC race and give themselves an emotional boost. But, to do so, they can’t look at Morrisville as pushovers as many teams have (ask Fredonia and Oswego). Play hard!
Player to watch: Brockport's Oliver Wren. The goaltender has faced plenty of shots this year and Friday night will be no different with Morrisville's slap-happy wingers. He will be tested early and often and will have to show his glove a lot.
The game can be heard on WBSU at 89.1 FM and www.891thepoint.com
