The Ice Knights were hot and cold this weekend with a win and a loss
The Ice Knights battled it out with the Buffalo State Bengals this past Friday (Feb. 10) with a large and exciting win of 6-0, which raises their record to 10-3-1 in SUNYAC play and 15-5-2 in the regular season! Right off the bat, the Ice Knights forced through the line of defense within the first 5 minutes with an impressive unassisted score by junior forward Jared Thomas. The Knights did not stop there; instead, they scored three more times to finish off the first period with a score of 4-0 holding off the Bengals.
As they made their way through the period, another shot successfully found the back of the net courtesy of sophomore forward Stefan Miklakos, made possible by senior forward Justin Cmunt and junior forward Mitch Machlitt, followed by freshman defender Dakota Zarudny, who made the score 3-0; however, the show was not over yet.
To increase the score to 4-0 at the end of the first period, Cmunt went from assisting a goal to making one himself with 15 seconds left to put an end to an exciting game so far, with only a third of it over. Yet again Cmunt scored, making this his sixth goal of the season, followed up by one from freshman forward Corey Cunningham off a power play, which marked his first goal as a Knight as he finished up the game!
Senior goalkeeper Matt Petizian once again protected the net with another shutout, making this his third shutout and his twelfth victory this season. The line of defense this season, as highlighted in this game in particular, was powerful and strong, showing in the score as well as their skill in play.
On Saturday night, the Knights slipped on the ice as they suffered a loss against Fredonia with a score of 3-2 on Fredonia’s home ice. This game was extremely close; during the first period, neither team successfully hit the back of the net. In the first period, the mighty Knights had a total of 10 shots on goal while the last line of defense, goalkeeper Petizian, had six saves in the net.
One minute into the second period, the Blue Devils got one over on our beloved Knights, but they came back for blood and put the score on the same ground. Miklakos scored the first goal for Geneseo Saturday night off an assist from senior forward Tyson Gilmour and graduate student defender Matthew Doran.
Before the second period was over, Fredonia scored yet again, which turned the score from 0-0 to 2-1 in the second period. Geneseo put up a grand fight as they battled their way through the three-period game but ultimately fell victim to the Blue Devils.
Thomas broke the lead with another goal for the weekend, which proved to be not enough, as Fredonia still managed to pull ahead leaving the game with a win. This game was close, where the Knights were neck and neck with the Blue Devils, so much so that the suspense was almost too much to handle. The fight ended up with a 3-2 score, but the Knights kept their heads high as they now look forward to their game with Brockport, this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the Ira S. Wilson Ice arena here at Geneseo. Come in blue and show your support for your persistent Knights! Make sure to wish any Ice Knight good luck this week before their last in-season game before SUNYACS if you happen to spot one around campus!