Devils find scoring touch in home opener

Taylor Bourne (Calgary, Alberta) recorded a hattrick in Fredonia's 7-3 home men's hockey win Saturday over Southern New Hampshire.

Luke Rivera (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) added a pair of goals, his first two as a collegian, while Zach White (Taberg, N.Y.), Oskar Gerhardson (Haessleholm, Sweden), and Macenzie McAvoy (Port Colbourne, Ont.) collected two assists each.

Eric Bogart (London, Ont.) made 19 saves while making his first collegiate appearance in goal.

Fredonia improved to 1-0-1 on opening weekend -- including a 1-1 tie Friday at Buffalo State -- while winning the Steele Hall home-opener.

Kyle Valliere, Timothy Baylis, and Artem Efimov-Barakov scored for Southern New Hampshire, which fell to 0-3.

The Penmen had an inauspicious start to their evening, arriving in Fredonia without their jerseys. They instead wore Fredonia alumni jerseys, which resulted in 10 players donning different numbers.

The Blue Devils wasted little time gaining the advantage. Kyle Jelinski (Edmonton, Alberta), one of eight freshman in the Fredonia lineup, put his team on top 1-0 with his first collegiate goal off a pass from Marcus Ortiz (Richardson, Texas), who carried the puck behind the net and passed it back in front.

Bourne scored his first of three goals at the 6:52 mark of the first period with a shot from slot off a pass from Gerhardson. After Valliere's goal put the Fredonia lead in half, Bourne scored again -- this time after skating along the right boards and shooting the puck off the chest and over the head of Penmen starting goaltender David Letarte.

Baylis made it 3-2 with a short-handed goal midway through the second period. The Blue Devils responded with four unanswered goals, beginning with a shot by Ortiz from the slot after carrying the puck out of the left corner. That put Fredonia on top 4-2 after two periods.

Bourne completed his hattrick at 2:35 of the third period when he scored off a rebound. Rivera then scored his two goals -- first on a shot from the left side, then on a defllection. In each case, White and McAvoy picked up assists. Southern New Hampshire's Efimov-Barakov completed the scoring with one minute remaining.