Brandon wood of the Stylus penned this recap of the Cortland game...
It was a battle of special teams efficiency at Tuttle North Ice Arena Friday, Nov. 22. SUNY Cortland entered its game against the College at Brockport with a 33 percent conversion rate with the man advantage, while Brockport sat at 31 percent. While Brockport struck twice in the first period and had a lead in the second period, Cortland found two power-play goals in the second period to skate out of Brockport with a win.
“We figured that both teams would get a lot of chances tonight,” Brockport Coach Brian Dickinson said following the game. “They were just a little quicker on their power play. Our penalty kill didn’t do a good job of getting out on their defensemen and they moved it around us pretty great.”
It was a battle of special teams efficiency at Tuttle North Ice Arena Friday, Nov. 22. SUNY Cortland entered its game against the College at Brockport with a 33 percent conversion rate with the man advantage, while Brockport sat at 31 percent. While Brockport struck twice in the first period and had a lead in the second period, Cortland found two power-play goals in the second period to skate out of Brockport with a win.
“We figured that both teams would get a lot of chances tonight,” Brockport Coach Brian Dickinson said following the game. “They were just a little quicker on their power play. Our penalty kill didn’t do a good job of getting out on their defensemen and they moved it around us pretty great.”
Brockport (2-4-1 overall, 1-2 SUNYAC)
found itself in an early 2-0 hole seven minutes into the game as the
Golden Eagles had two defensive lapses early in the contest. Cortland
freshman Matt Esposito scored a goal when the puck bounced to his stick
as he was all alone in the slot four minutes into the game, and senior
Adam Bevilacqua scored three minutes later on a breakaway.
Later in the first period, Brockport narrowly missed a power-play goal on its first chance of the night, as sophomore Chase Nieuwendyk scored just seconds after Cortland exited the penalty box. Freshman Nick Marinac received the primary assist on the play.
Brockport scored its next two goals while Cortland was in the box. Junior Bobby Chayka scored the second goal of his career after Marinac made an excellent pass across the ice to find him open in the slot. The shot deflected off a Cortland player to tie the game up at two. That was the score after the first period.
In the second period, Cortland was penalized again for tripping, and this time it was sophomore James Ryan who scored while Brockport had the man advantage to give Brockport the 3-2 lead. Marinac again received an assist on the play, giving him three for the game and a point on every Brockport goal.
Brockport struggled near the end of the second period as it took three penalties. Cortland scored on two of them to take a 4-3 lead into the final period.
“The second period, they drew us into some calls and we got a little frustrated,” Dickinson said. “We took a couple selfish penalties near the end of the period, and they really hurt us.”
Brockport’s power play finished 2-for-3 in the game, while Cortland was 3-for-6 with the man
advantage. Cortland has the best power play in the SUNYAC, scoring 12 goals in 34 opportunities.
After giving up three power-play goals on the night, Brockport’s penalty kill has dipped to 70 percent, which is third worst in the nine-team SUNYAC.
Each goalie made several impressive saves to hold the score where it was in the third period, until Cortland added an empty-net goal in the waning minutes of the third. It counted as a power-play goal because Brockport pulled Lockhurst while a man down. Lockhurst finished the game with 35 saves.
The loss to Cortland puts pressure on the Golden Eagles with No. 8 SUNY
Oswego coming to Brockport Saturday night, as they could come away with
zero conference points in their first home weekend of SUNYAC play.
Lockhurst said he thinks Brockport can forget about its loss to Cortland
quickly and will play up to its potential against Oswego.
“It was a big two points we lost against Cortland, unfortunately,” Lockhurst said. “We’ve got a really good team in this dressing room, and we’re going to put a solid performance in against Oswego tomorrow.”
With Oswego falling on the road to No. 15 SUNY Geneseo Friday night, Dickinson said he thinks Oswego could be an angry team coming into the game Saturday.
“I’m sure [Oswego] is going to come in riled up,” Dickinson said. “[Geneseo’s] the first real good opponent that Oswego has really played. Knowing [Oswego Head] Coach [Ed] Gosek and [Assistant] Coach [Mark] Digby, they’ll be working hard tonight to get their kid’s attention.”
Source: http://www.thestylus.net/sports/cortland-hockey-wins-special-teams-battle-against-brockport-1.3123855#.UpMBb-KrGFg
