Special to the OBSERVER
CORTLAND - Fredonia State yielded three special teams goals and fell to Cortland, 4-2, in SUNYAC men's hockey Friday.
"The story of the game was we tried to get away with playing just 20 minutes of hockey," Fredonia State coach Jeff Meredith said. We scored 2 goals in that 20 minutes. Too big of a hole to dig out of."
The Blue Devils trailed 3-0 before scoring twice in a span of 25 seconds early in the third period. Matt Hehr and Stephen Castriota had the goals.
"We are going to be a team trying to scratch to make sixth place (in the conference)" a frustrated Meredith said. "That's probably where we should be - sixth or seventh. You try to avoid self-inflicted wounds. It's a shame. With eight seniors, you'd think you'd be able to get through some of the adverse times."
Yet they could not score the equalizer despite keeping on the pressure for most of the third period. An empty-netter by Cortland resulted in the final margin.
Fredonia State had a 34-23 advantage in shots. Cortland's Lyle Rocker made 32 saves. Mark Friesen had 19 saves for the Blue Devils.
The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 4-4 overall, 3-3 in the SUNYAC. Cortland improved to 2-4 overall, 2-3 in the conference.
The Blue Devils were skating with a two-man advantage when A.J. Moyer made it 1-0 for the Red Dragons at 14:40 of the second period.
Adam Bevilacqua made it 2-0 Cortland while his team was one man short.
The Blue Devils had a chance to cut their deficit in half but could not convert on a breakaway later in the second period.
The Red Dragons added insurance with a power-play goal by Chris Kaleta just 29 seconds into the third period.
Hehr redirected a shot from the point at 1:41 of the third period for his fourth goal of the year. Castriota flipped in a bouncing puck 25 seconds later to trim the Cortland lead to 3-2. It was Castriota's first goal of the season.
Cortland's Michael Lysyj scored into an empty net with 16 seconds left.
Fredonia State's task gets taller Saturday night against Oswego. The Lakers retained their No. 1 national ranking in the USCHO.com Division III poll. Game time is 7 p.m.
Men's Basketball
Fisher tops Devils, 79-60
HAMBURG - The Fredonia State men's basketball team fell 79-60 to St. John Fisher in a game played at Hilbert College on Friday.
Junior Joe Monahan led the Devils with 12 points. Senior Dalton Kashmer added 10 points and led the Devils with five rebounds and three assists. Junior Tyrone Clark had seven points on three-of-three shooting from the field, and added three steals.
For the Cardinals (1-0), Adam Ambielli and Jason Norson had 25 points apiece.
The Devils led early on, 6-5, before Fisher went on a 12-2 run to take a 17-8 advantage. Fisher would maintain a 47-30 lead at the halfway point.
For the game, Fisher held a 37-29 advantage in rebounds. The Devils shot 39.6 percent from the field, while Fisher hit on 53.6 percent of its shots.
The Devils fall to 0-2. They have the home opener on Tuesday in a women's/men's doubleheader in Steele Hall. Action tips off at 6 p.m.
Swimming & Diving
Edinboro outswims Blue Devils
EDINBORO, Pa. - Both Fredonia State swimming teams were defeated by Edinboro on Friday.
The Blue Devil men fell 111-84, and the women lost 104-95.
There was no diving competition during the meet.
Fredonia State had two individual winners - one in each gender. Lizzie Lodinsky finished first in the women's 200-yard breast stroke with a time of 2:35.01. In the men's 50 freestyle, junior John Estanislau was the winner in :22.07.
The Blue Devils will return to competition Nov. 30 when they play host to the three-day Blue Devil Invitational at the Steele Hall Natatorium.
