Sunday, January 22, 2012

BROCKPORT BEATS BUFFALO STATE 4-2

The Athletic Department's recap of the road game at Buffalo State...


Senior Ian Finnerty (Ardmore, PA) scored the game-winning goal in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) upset win over the Buffalo State Bengals. Finnerty's 11th goal of the season came at the 2:25 mark of the third period to seal the victory.

Adding two assists to the night, Finnerty now has 30 points on the year, putting him in a tie for fifth place in all of Division III hockey. The 30 points also tie him for first place in the SUNYAC. James Cody (Schwenksville, PA) also added three points on the night to give him 26 on the season.

In a fight for the final SUNYAC Playoff spot, Brockport now has seven points, one point behind Potsdam and Geneseo. The Golden Eagles are now 3-6-1 while Buffalo State falls to 5-4-1 in the conference and are in a tie for third place.

Trailing 1-0 in the first period, Chris Cangro (Holbrook, NY) scored on a powerplay goal following a near-side faceoff with 2:50 to play. Finnerty got his first point of the night on the assist along with Colby Spooner. The Golden Eagles outshot Buffalo State in the first period 10-9.

Brendon Rothfuss (Webster, NY) connected on his fifth goal of the season in the second period on assists from Cody and Nick Panepinto (Tonawanda, NY) to give Brockport a 2-1 lead with 1:05 left in the period. The Golden Eagles skated into the second intermission with control of the game.

Following a penalty on the Brockport bench in the opening minutes of the third period, Buffalo State scored a powerplay goal at the 6:42 mark in the third period. The two teams traded shots for the next 10 minutes until Finnerty came through in the clutch for the Golden Eagles. Finnerty received a cross-ice pass from Adam Shoff (Port Dover, ONT) to put home the game winner. Cody was also credited with an assist on the play. One minute later, the Bengals added an extra skater as they pulled goalie Kevin Carr. Finnerty took control of the puck and skated down ice and found Cody as he found the back of the empty night to seal the victory.

Brockport freshman goalie Aaron Green registered 30 saves to improve his season record to 3-1-0.