Ice Knights close regular season with split against Nazareth University
Photo courtesy of Geneseoknights.com
The Ice Knights impressive regular season record has them sitting at 20-4, and 16-3-1 in UCHC Conference play. They will be hosting the semifinal round at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena on Mar. 1, at 7:00 pm.
The Geneseo Men’s Hockey team went into the final weekend of the regular season riding high after a spectacular win against their rival Utica Pioneers 7-3. The Ice Knights’ last two regular season games were against Nazareth University. The first game against Nazareth on Friday, Feb. 21, was senior night at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena. Geneseo put on a show for the home crowd and ended up downing the Golden Flyers 9-1.
Unfortunately, the game the following night at Tim Hortons Iceplex on Saturday, Feb. 22, did not go nearly as well. The Knights fell short in a 7-4 defeat against the Golden Flyers. The Knights' record after the season is 20-4, and they finished second in the UCHC conference with a 16-3-1 record in conference play.
The Ice Knights got off to a great start in Friday night’s senior night game, with senior captain forward Peter Morgan finding the back of the net less than 3 minutes into the game. Junior forward Alex Dameski would tally Geneseo’s second goal of the game at 12:22 of the first period. The score would remain 2-0 going into the first intermission.
Geneseo kicked off a dominating second period with sophomore defenseman Sean Melso capitalizing on a 5-3 power play for the Knights's third goal of the game. Sophomore forward Luke Panchisin would add another power-play goal at 6:23 of the second. The senior Ice Knights continued to wreak havoc against the Golden Flyers defense as senior forward Zach Purcell got it past Golden Flyers goaltender Matt Sayles to make it 4-0.
Not even a minute later, Senior forward Cooper Fenterstock added another off a slick feed from Morgan. Purcell would double down at 16:39, followed by a goal from Freshman defenseman Nicholas Kovacs to close out an unbelievable second period— closing with the Knights leading 8-0.
The Knights showed a hint of vulnerability when Nazareth managed to get on the board at 8:20 of the third period. Their vulnerability, however, did not last long as senior forward Stefan Miklakos would cap off a picturesque senior night to make it 9-1. That score would hold as senior goalie Adam Harris capped his last regular season game as a Knight with 24 saves and a .960 save percentage for his tenth victory.
In the second game of the weekend, the Ice Knights did not get off to a great start, as the Golden Flyers were able to get on the board first at 12:37 of the first period. The period would come to an end with Geneseo trailing 1-0.
Geneseo’s fortunes momentarily changed in the second period as they got goals from Zach Purcell and Alex Dameski to open the period. Unfortunately, the Golden Flyers would respond in a big way as they were able to score four unanswered goals. The second period would come to a close, with the Golden Flyers leading 5-2.
The Knights showed some fight in the third, with Carter Diceman rifling one past Matt Sayles on the power play to make it a two-goal game at 5-3. Dameski was able to add one, but two Golden Flyers empty net goals sealed a 7- 4 victory. Sophomore goaltender Jacob Torgner made 24 saves despite the loss.
With the Ice Knights' incredible season coming to a close, they now will turn their attention to the UCHC tournament. Geneseo will be the second seed in the tournament and will host the semifinal round on Saturday, Mar. 1, at 7:00 pm. in the Ira S. Wilson Arena.