Special to the OBSERVER
Fredonia State opened its 2012-13 men's hockey season with a 5-2 win Friday over SUNY Canton at the Steele Hall Ice Arena.
"It was great," Fredonia State head coach Jeff Meredith said. "It was nice. We started practice Monday morning and it was nice to be able to play someone else and get a sense of where we were in the whole development process."
Article Photos
OBSERVER?Photo by Justin Goetz
Canton’s Dave Schneider (14) attempts to screen Fredonia State goalie Jeff Holloway during their non-conference game Friday night at the Steele Hall Ice Arena. Fredonia State won, 5-2.
Mat Hehr had two goals while Jared Wynia, Matt Owczarczak and Mitch Kaufmann had one goal each. It was the first collegiate goal for Kaufmann in his first collegiate game.
The goaltending duties were split between Mark Friesen and Jeff Holloway. Friesen started and made six saves in a period and a half. Holloway picked up the win with nine saves over the final 29:50.
Cory Giczewski and Jordan Grimsley scored for the Kangaroos, who were also opening their season Friday night.
The Blue Devils are back in action 7 p.m. Saturday at Utica.
The Blue Devils carried the play in the opening six minutes before the game's first penalty, a slashing call against Canton's George Curry. The Blue Devils kept puck in attack zone yet were unable to cash in.
With the teams skating 4-on-4 following coincidental minor penalties, Giczewski won a scrum in the crease and tapped the puck behind Friesen for the game's first goal.
The Blue Devils went back on the power play when Canton's Joe Casale was assessed a 5-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for checking from behind. It resulted in the first of two Fredonia State power-play goals, a Wynia backhander into the top of the net at 17:02 to forge a 1-1 tie.
Blue Devils went back on power play at 10:53 when Canton's Brad Wilson was whistled for interference. Hehr made the Kangaroos pay when he converted a three-way exchange with Declan Gonovski and Ryan Wilkinson. The power-play goal gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the night, 2-1.
The lead was short lived. Following a 2-on-1 rush, Holloway made the initial save yet was unable to cover the puck and a Blue Devil defenseman attempted to clear the puck and instead gave it away. The Kangaroos converted the exchange into a goal to forge the game's final tie at 2-2.
The Blue Devils took the lead for keeps when Owczarczak scored on rebound of a shot from the point at 15:40 of the second period. Third-period goals by Hehr and Kaufmann completed the scoring.
"I thought our guys did a nice job," Meredith said. "We went into (the game) with some simple expectations. One was to play as hard as we could. Two was to push the tempo as fast as we could. We had a good base in conditioning and we thought it would pay off in the end, and it did."
Women's Soccer
Blue Devils knock off SUNYAC leaders, 1-0
Fredonia State scored midway through the first half and then hung on for a 1-0 SUNYAC women's soccer home win Friday over conference leader Oneonta at University Stadium.
"We might not have played our best soccer today," Fredonia State coach Chris Case said, "but we certainly did enough to win the game."
The Blue Devils improved to 5-2-1 with the victory, 11-3-1 overall, while the Red Dragons fell to 6-2-0 in the SUNYAC and 10-5-1 overall.
Junior forward Kristi Putzig scored the game's only goal in the 37th minute when she received a pass in the box from junior midfielder Katie Kleine, settled the ball, and while falling lofted a high ball into the upper far corner. It was Putzig's fifth goal of the season and Kleine's team-leading 20th point.
"It was a physical game," Case added. "We knew it would be. (Oneonta is) a physical, strong group of girls that can play the game very well."
The Red Dragons nearly tied the score in the 53rd minute. They received three straight corner kicks in the span of under two minutes and have several good scoring chances. The best one came after the third corner. The ball came to freshman defender Erica Berry at the top of the box and directly in front of the net. Her first shot banged off the crossbar and the rebound came straight down to her. Berry's second attempt sailed over the top of the net.
Later in the half, Meszaros batted away a hard shot by Kayla Brantmeyer to keep Oneonta off the board. It was one of six saves by Meszaros, who recorded her seventh shutout of the season and her 21st as a Blue Devil, two short of the school record held by Becky Scroger.
"I have to give our team a lot of credit," Case continued. "We were able to withstand a lot of pressure at different times."
The Red Dragons had a 25-8 advantage in shots and a 9-1 advantage in corner kicks. Their goalkeeper, Rori Stark, failed to make a save on the Blue Devils' lone shot on goal.
Fredonia State is back in SUNYAC action 1 p.m. Saturday vs. New Paltz at University Stadium.
Men's Soccer
Devils blanked
by Oneonta, 7-0
ONEONTA - Oneonta State erupted for six second-half goals to roll past Fredonia State, 7-0, in SUNYAC men's soccer Friday.
"We played every SUNYAC team real close," Fredonia State head coach P.J. Gondek said. "We need one win to secure a playoff spot, and at Oneonta (Friday) we knew it was going to be tough. It was 1-0 at halftime and when they got their second goal early in the second half, we decided that we weren't going to risk it, so we rested everyone for New Paltz."
Luke Halberg and Zef Saljanin had two goals each for the Red Dragons, who improved to 10-5-1 overall and 6-3 SUNYAC.
The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 3-4-1 in the conference and 4-12-1 overall. They are back in action Saturday vs. New Paltz at Malboro High School. Game time is 5 p.m.
