Ice Knights lose to #2 Oswego, find offensive mojo vs. Cortland

The Geneseo Ice Knights split two SUNYAC games last weekend. They lost to #2 Oswego, 4-1, on January 27 and defeated Cortland, 8-3, on January 28.

Geneseo came out strong early against Oswego, taking a 1-0 lead in the first period on first year Zach Martin’s second goal of the year. The Ice Knights maintained offensive zone pressure and outshot the Lakers 9-8 in the period.

Geneseo’s defense held strong for most of the second, before Oswego tied the game with six minutes left in the period. Oswego then took the lead three minutes later on a five-on-three power play.

“We moved away from our game plan,” head coach Chris Schultz said. “You have to play a perfect game when you are playing Oswego. We were perfect for a while but it’s a 60 minute game.”

Oswego took a 3-1 lead early in the third before putting the game away with their fourth goal with three minutes left. Senior Cory Gershon made 21 saves in goal, taking the loss.

“I like the way Gershon played,” Schultz added. “We had some good looks but we are playing the best team in the country. It’s not easy to score goals on Oswego.”

Geneseo responded to the loss with an 8-3 win over Cortland the next night. Seniors Danny Scagnelli and Jonathan Redlick scored early goals to give the Ice Knights the lead. First year Justin Scharfe scored later in the period as Geneseo took a 3-1 into the intermission.

Redlick added his second goal of the game in the second period and senior David Arduin found the back as Geneseo held a 5-1 after two periods.

Sophomores Zachary Vit and junior Ryan Bulach tallied goals in the third before Cortland scored twice within seven seconds about halfway through the period. Sophomore Jonathan Sucese notched his first career goal later in the third. Vit led Geneseo with four points on one goal and three assists. Arduin had two assists to go along with his goal for three points.

“Anytime you have a breakout night with goal scoring it’s always good for the team’s confidence,” Schultz said. “But the thing we are preaching the most is defense. We got a little loose there in the third period when the game was blownout. You have to maintain focus for 60 minutes to win the big games.”

Junior Adrian Rubeniuk made 19 saves to earn the win in net. Geneseo scored three power play goals and didn’t allow a goal while shorthanded, including taking nine penalty minutes early in the third period.

“I think our special teams was the reason we won,” Schultz said.

Geneseo is now 5-7-0 in SUNYAC play and 11-10-0 on the season. Geneseo travels to Brockport on February 3.