On the road until January, Blue Devils take advantage of home ice

Men's hockey team plays in back and forth battle against Bengals

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The Blue Devils faced Buffalo State in their last home game until January on Friday Nov. 16. Unable to produce a win since Nov. 2, Fredonia was looking to come out on top to remain ahead of the Buffalo State Bengals in SUNY Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) standings.

"We have been needing to take our program in a different direction," said Head Coach Jeff Meredith. "That means having more athletes here to compete hard and keep at it."

The first period opened with a slow start for both teams but did not last as the Bengals arrived on the scoreboard first by scoring at 5:49 of the opening period.

Freshman forward Alex Morton had the first real chance to score as he tried to shoot the puck on the left side of Buffalo State's net but the Bengals' goaltender Travis Moore made a stick save.

It looked as though Buffalo State would make it 2-0 as they gained a powerplay opportunity but Fredonia intercepted a pass at center ice. A shorthanded breakaway goal was then produced, tying the game at 1-1.

As time whittled down, the Blue Devils gained a five-on-three advantage that would carry into the second period.

Fredonia opened the scoring in the next period as junior defenseman Colin Sarfeh's shot on net came out to Morton who fired it past the Bengals' goalkeeper to take the team's first lead of the game. Freshman defenseman Steve Rizer and senior forward Adam Haberman had the assists.

"It feels good to keep battling back and come from behind," said junior forward Bryan Goudy. "However, despite our hard playing this season, we really need to work on scoring more goals and staying out of the penalty box."

Even with consistent and solid playing b y sophomore goaltender Pat Street, the Bengals managed to tie the game just minutes later. Strong defensive pressure from both teams maintained a 2-2 tie until Buffalo State bounced back with their second lead of the game. They headed into the final period with a 3-2 lead.

"We had a tough start to the game," Street said. "The game is [just] so fast that I try to communicate with the team as much as possible."

The Blue Devils battled back only four minutes into the third period with the man advantage to tie the score up once again. Haberman was credited with the goal.

Following the tying goal, the Blue Devils gained another opportunity but were denied on a wrap-around and rebound chance until Rizer scored with only 1:09 remaining in regulation, giving the Blue Devils the lead for good.

The Bengals then pulled their goaltender in an effort to force the game into overtime. Street made a crucial save to help the Blue Devils prevail with a 4-3 win.

"We really rallied in between periods and found a way to win," Street said.

The fans' "can't beat Street" chant proved true as the goaltender added a win to his personal record of 4-1-1. The team's overall record now stands at 4-3-2 and 2-2-1 in the SUNYAC.

"I am definitely happy with the win," Meredith said. "Both teams were looking to kill each other out there but everyone worked hard. There is a good rivalry between these teams."