Neither Brockport nor Buffalo State got the result they wanted Friday night, as they tied 2-2 in an overtime battle. The game came down to the last second of overtime but ultimately neither team was able to net the winner.
The first period saw slow starts from both teams. Brockport didn’t find an offensive rhythm until the back half of the period. They were able to create quality scoring chances, but Buffalo State’s Marcus Cumberworth held his own in net. Still, Brockport’s Andrew Harley was satisfied with the way the offense looked.
“…we are getting our chances,” Harley said. “We just got to keep playing hard, get pucks across their blue line and behind their D.”
As for the Bengals’ offense, they struggled to create scoring chances. Brockport’s Dylan Wiemer stood tall between the pipes and the Golden Eagles’ defense created a plethora of turnovers.
The excitement came in the second period. Brockport drew first blood with Connor Galloway scoring a one-timer goal on the powerplay, putting Brockport up 1-0. It was Galloway’s fifth goal of the season.
The Bengals found a way to respond against Brockport, as Anthony Morin buried a wrist shot under the blocker of Wiemer to tie the game. After that goal, Buffalo State looked like they found life on offense. They put more offensive pressure on Brockport and created more high-quality scoring chances. A couple of chances could have been goals, but the Bengals couldn’t capitalize on them.
The Golden Eagles kept on rolling, though, with Spencer Flansburg scoring on a backhand shot to put his team up 2-1. With the goal, the momentum shifted completely to Brockport. Flansburg believed that the goal was critical for the team.
“I think it just brought more energy to us,” Flansburg said. “It was good to see the boys up and cheering for it.”
In the third period, things tightened up. Neither team could cash in for the first half of the period. That changed when Buffalo State’s captain Parker Allison scored a slap shot with three seconds left in a Bengals power play, tying the game at two.
Brockport began to struggle with passing and maintaining possession of the puck in the final minutes of regulation. This allowed the Bengals to control the scoring opportunities. However, Wiemer continued to stand strong. With no one scoring after Allison’s equalizer, the game was sent to overtime.
It was just as tense as the third period. Both teams had excellent chances to put the game away but couldn’t do so.
Brockport’s Andrew Harley fired a wrist shot that deflected off of Cumberworth’s right goal post. As for Buffalo State, Nick Stuckless fired a wrist shot on Wiemer with one second left in overtime, but the goalie hauled it into his chest to end the game in a draw. Although Brockport didn’t get the win they hoped for, head coach Brian Dickinson was happy with his team’s performance.
“I thought we competed hard for 65 minutes,” Dickinson said. “After the week of practice, they put a lot of the stuff into motion and stayed together as a group and got a hard-earned point out of this.”
Brockport didn’t escape the game without any injuries. Schuyler Flansburg went down with a left knee injury in the second period. The injury was on the same leg he injured earlier in the season that kept him out of multiple games.
With the result, Brockport and Buffalo State hold serve in the SUNYAC standings. With Fredonia State falling to Geneseo 7-4 Friday night, they are tied with Brockport for the final postseason spot. The Blue Devils will be next on the schedule for Brockport. Dickinson has the same message for his team going into Saturday that he did Friday night.
“Our message was the game is so important,” Dickinson said. “We just have to concentrate on playing the game…we are going to have to play very, very disciplined hockey tomorrow…”
Fredonia State will host Brockport on Saturday with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Steele Hall Ice Arena.
