Last night’s game was just what the doctor ordered. Brockport woke from its offensive slumber and came out guns a blazing and put 52 shots on goal in an exciting 9-6 win over Western New England College.
The 300 fans in attendance (a low number as this is still winter break on campus) were able to see Brockport’s highest goal total since a 10-3 drubbing of Framingham State back in January of 2008.
You never would have guessed a final score so high after how the first period played out. Basically, the first half of that period was pretty eventless; fans with a passing interest in hockey might even say it was boring. But once Ian Finnerty lit the lamp at 11:09 things changed. The shots started pouring out from the Golden Eagles and they didn’t let up.
Ian was the best player on the ice last night. Statistically, he had a career night with 6 points on 2 goals and 4 assists. Outside of the box score, though, he was just as amazing: When the game was still a game in the first (that stanza ended 2-1) he was without a doubt the best defender on either team. On two penalty kills during the first he had two really exceptional plays, including one where he laid out and used his stick handle to deflect the puck away from the net. At one point while even strength in the first, he prevented a for-sure goal by knocking down a shot taken at the net from point-blank.
Bobby Conner, who was the second star of the game, netted Brockport’s second goal in the first with a pretty power play in which Tom Galiani and Finnerty were incredibly patient and mobile while closing in the diamond. It was a perfectly-orchestrated attack.
The second period saw Brockport score 4 goals while putting 23 shots on goal. WNEC managed only 1 goal which nearly didn’t happen. Goalie Joey Reagan made a brilliant glove save but may not have had total control of the puck for the ref never whistled the play dead. The puck trickled out of the glove and WNEC’s Connors scored on the ensuing confusion.
Bobby Conner’s second goal of the game – a nice pick-up of a rebound - came with just 9 seconds left in a power play opportunity. Brockport followed that up with Finnerty’s second goal, one where he deftly took advantage of 3 really confused WNEC players.
A few minutes later, James Cody (who had 3 assists on the night and has already surpassed the 20-point barrier) took a shot that left the WNEC goaltender reeling, blasting him right in the chin with an incredibly wicked slapshot from between the faceoff circles. It was at once frightening and entertaining (that latter being true only after knowing the goalie was okay).
Justin Noble proceeded to score at the 7:26 mark with a nicely-done goal, coming from behind the net to scoop in a puck that was briefly sitting in limbo...no one on the ice but he knew where it was.
Five minutes later Colby Spooner got his first collegiate goal. It was good to see him rewarded for his impressive efforts this year…he’s become a top-notch d-man who does an above average job of finishing his checks.
The third period was a wild one that saw WNEC score 4 times while Brockport found the back of the net 3 times. Chris Cangro became the third Golden Eagle to net 2 goals in this game scoring at the mid-way point and then again with less than 3 minutes left. On both occasions he out-muscled his defender to set himself up to collect rebounds. Adam Shoff got his second goal of the week with a fantastic power play goal. Brockport addressed one of its major weaknesses by going 5 for 10 on the power play against WNEC.
Jeremy Rossignolo spelled Joey Reagan 9:04 into the 3rd, the first action he has seen as a Golden Eagle over these past two seasons. He allowed 3 goals on 5 shots which can be attributed to his surprise ice time.
The Golden Eagles played lights-out all game. With 4 minutes left to play, as WNEC looked to be in comeback mode, Ian Chapman and Pat Hayden began knocking bodies down like it was going out of style. They were not going to lose!
You had to love the fans last night, too. A handful of folks from the Eagles Nest drove in from across New York State just to cheer on the Golden Eagles. One of them, Grant Voges, sang the national anthems again. No one sings "O Canada" quite like Grant…he’s a bilingual expert! Grant also got himself in hot water, throwing his green & gold wig onto the ice thinking a hat trick had been scored when it hadn’t. They obviously couldn’t kick out Brockport’s most vocal fan.
It was good to see the little rugrats getting into the spirit, too. About a dozen 10-year-olds cheered on every Brockport goal. In one of the more entertaining moments, after 2 female WNEC fans cheered their team's goals in the third, one of the kids turned around to the girls after a Brockport goal to talk smack with them. It was an impressive show of fan-demonium, but his dad made it a point to tell him to keep his attention on the ice and not the fans in the crowd. The kid has potential to be a future Eagle Nest Crazy :)
The battle continues today at 3:00, a rare matinee game. Here's to more fireworks!
The 300 fans in attendance (a low number as this is still winter break on campus) were able to see Brockport’s highest goal total since a 10-3 drubbing of Framingham State back in January of 2008.
You never would have guessed a final score so high after how the first period played out. Basically, the first half of that period was pretty eventless; fans with a passing interest in hockey might even say it was boring. But once Ian Finnerty lit the lamp at 11:09 things changed. The shots started pouring out from the Golden Eagles and they didn’t let up.
Ian was the best player on the ice last night. Statistically, he had a career night with 6 points on 2 goals and 4 assists. Outside of the box score, though, he was just as amazing: When the game was still a game in the first (that stanza ended 2-1) he was without a doubt the best defender on either team. On two penalty kills during the first he had two really exceptional plays, including one where he laid out and used his stick handle to deflect the puck away from the net. At one point while even strength in the first, he prevented a for-sure goal by knocking down a shot taken at the net from point-blank.
Bobby Conner, who was the second star of the game, netted Brockport’s second goal in the first with a pretty power play in which Tom Galiani and Finnerty were incredibly patient and mobile while closing in the diamond. It was a perfectly-orchestrated attack.
The second period saw Brockport score 4 goals while putting 23 shots on goal. WNEC managed only 1 goal which nearly didn’t happen. Goalie Joey Reagan made a brilliant glove save but may not have had total control of the puck for the ref never whistled the play dead. The puck trickled out of the glove and WNEC’s Connors scored on the ensuing confusion.
Bobby Conner’s second goal of the game – a nice pick-up of a rebound - came with just 9 seconds left in a power play opportunity. Brockport followed that up with Finnerty’s second goal, one where he deftly took advantage of 3 really confused WNEC players.
A few minutes later, James Cody (who had 3 assists on the night and has already surpassed the 20-point barrier) took a shot that left the WNEC goaltender reeling, blasting him right in the chin with an incredibly wicked slapshot from between the faceoff circles. It was at once frightening and entertaining (that latter being true only after knowing the goalie was okay).
Justin Noble proceeded to score at the 7:26 mark with a nicely-done goal, coming from behind the net to scoop in a puck that was briefly sitting in limbo...no one on the ice but he knew where it was.
Five minutes later Colby Spooner got his first collegiate goal. It was good to see him rewarded for his impressive efforts this year…he’s become a top-notch d-man who does an above average job of finishing his checks.
The third period was a wild one that saw WNEC score 4 times while Brockport found the back of the net 3 times. Chris Cangro became the third Golden Eagle to net 2 goals in this game scoring at the mid-way point and then again with less than 3 minutes left. On both occasions he out-muscled his defender to set himself up to collect rebounds. Adam Shoff got his second goal of the week with a fantastic power play goal. Brockport addressed one of its major weaknesses by going 5 for 10 on the power play against WNEC.
Jeremy Rossignolo spelled Joey Reagan 9:04 into the 3rd, the first action he has seen as a Golden Eagle over these past two seasons. He allowed 3 goals on 5 shots which can be attributed to his surprise ice time.
The Golden Eagles played lights-out all game. With 4 minutes left to play, as WNEC looked to be in comeback mode, Ian Chapman and Pat Hayden began knocking bodies down like it was going out of style. They were not going to lose!
You had to love the fans last night, too. A handful of folks from the Eagles Nest drove in from across New York State just to cheer on the Golden Eagles. One of them, Grant Voges, sang the national anthems again. No one sings "O Canada" quite like Grant…he’s a bilingual expert! Grant also got himself in hot water, throwing his green & gold wig onto the ice thinking a hat trick had been scored when it hadn’t. They obviously couldn’t kick out Brockport’s most vocal fan.
It was good to see the little rugrats getting into the spirit, too. About a dozen 10-year-olds cheered on every Brockport goal. In one of the more entertaining moments, after 2 female WNEC fans cheered their team's goals in the third, one of the kids turned around to the girls after a Brockport goal to talk smack with them. It was an impressive show of fan-demonium, but his dad made it a point to tell him to keep his attention on the ice and not the fans in the crowd. The kid has potential to be a future Eagle Nest Crazy :)
The battle continues today at 3:00, a rare matinee game. Here's to more fireworks!
-----------------------------------------------
Box score:
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/1011/boxes/mbrcwne1.j07
---------------------------------------------
AD recap....
Junior Ian Finnerty (Ardmore, PA) scored two goals and handed out four assists for six total points to lead The College at Brockport Hockey Team to a 9-6 victory over Western New England College Friday night in the first of a two-game series with the Golden Bears at the Tuttle North Ice Arena in Brockport.
Finnerty scored in each of the first two periods and had three assists in the first 40 minutes and then added his fourth assist and sixth pointy in the third period. Brockport (2-12-1) held a 2-1 lead after one period and outscored Western New England (3-7-3) 4-1 in the second stanza to take a 6-2 lead into the final period.
In a wild third period, the Golden Bears scored four times but Brockport added three goals to earn the victory.
Freshmen Bobby Connor (Lititz, PA) and Chris Cangro (Holbrook, NY) each scored twice for the Golden Eagles as Adam Shoff (Port Dover, ONT), Justin Noble (Georgetown, ONT) and Colby Spooner (Hilton, NY) each scored once for Brockport. Spooner’s goal was the first of his career for the sophomore defenseman.
Brockport scored five times on the power play with 10 attempts and held Western New England to one power play goal on eight opportunities.
Freshman Joe Reagan (Yonkers, NY) started for the Golden Eagles and made 19 saves before senior Jeremy Rossignolo (Rochester, NY) made his first career appearance for the Golden Eagles with nine minutes remaining and stopped two shots.
James Cody (Schwenksville, PA) had four assists and Tom Galiani (Lindenhurst, NY) added three assists for the Golden Eagles.
