Fredonia State got 39 saves from junior netminder Anton Rosen and continued their impressive season to date, knocking off Stevenson in non-league action at Steele Hall Ice Arena, 3-1.

“I felt we got stronger as the night went on,” said Fredonia State head coach Jeff Meredith about how his team played coming out of the holiday break. “I think the first period we really had to knock some rust off both physically and mentally.”

The scoring was started eight minutes into the game, as junior forward Ryan Dunn found himself wide open in front — after the puck was misplayed by Stevenson freshman goalkeeper Riley McVeigh — to make it 1-0 Blue Devils early.

“The more offensive things you do the longer it takes to get back going once you come back from the break,” said Meredith.

OBSERVER Photo by Justin Goetz Fredonia’s Josh Biasillo controls the puck behind the net during Friday’s game at Steele Hall in Fredonia.

Rosen, who impressed early by making a couple of nice glove saves to keep Stevenson off the scoreboard, has posted a 3-2-1 record this season, and has been looking to get back on track after his great 2017-2018 season where he won 11 games.

“Anton played very well tonight — he was rock solid,” said Meredith. “He swallowed up a lot of pucks and there weren’t a lot of rebounds to be had.”

Despite being outshot in the first period, Stevenson picked up a power play late and capitalized as forward Nick Gray slapped home a one-timer to knot the score 1-1 heading into the intermission.

Fredonia State would regained their lead in the second period. After Jimmy Morgan drew a penalty, sophomore Jasper Korican-Barlay tapped home a rebound and scored his first career collegiate goal just after the power play to put the Blue Devils back up 2-1 just a few minutes into the period.

Fredonia State continued to play solid hockey through the period, creating chances while playing physical.

Stevenson came back with a rush late in the period, but Rosen put the pad down, slid, and made another huge kick save to keep the Blue Devils up in front 2-1 after two periods of play.

“Things got a lot better in the second and then when we got into the third we got into a rhythm,” said Meredith. “We were getting pucks in deep and working hard to make things happen.”

Midway through the third period, the Blue Devils would get their insurance goal. After getting back on the power play, Fredonia State won the faceoff and Charlie Manley let a wrist shot go from the point which found its way through to the back of the net, pushing the Blue Devils’ lead to 3-1.

Stevenson (5-8) attempted to push late in the contest, but Rosen wouldn’t have it. Rosen made several critical stops down the stretch to help melt away any chance Stevenson had at attempting a comeback.

Fredonia State (9-2-2) will be back in action this afternoon in a rematch with Stevenson at 3 p.m. Coach Meredith wants his team to continue to build as they’re set to pick up their SUNYAC schedule later this month.

“We need to get the little wrinkles out of game,” said Meredith. “We need to keep playing fast and transition quickly. Our special teams are going to have to be real good once we get back into SUNYAC play.”