Brockport put the cherry on top to finish the regular season, beating Morrisville State 6-3. The win increased Brockport’s winning streak to two games and marked the first time this season they’ve won back-to-back games.
Brockport found themselves getting slightly outplayed by the Mustangs in the first period. Both teams created scoring chances but were met with solid goalie play. The Mustangs found more ways to create odd-man rushes early on. There were times when Brockport goalie Dylan Wiemer was left alone to defend the net.
Brockport’s Scott Ramaekers hoped the Golden Eagles offense would put more pressure on Mustangs goalie Garrett Boyonoski to get him out of his early rhythm.
“I think we just got to get to the net more, put pucks on him,” Ramaekers said. “Just getting traffic in front of him and just stay with it, don’t get discouraged and keep going…”
Things started to go in Morrisville State’s favor in the second period. The Mustangs broke the scoreless tie with Curtis Abbott burying a power play goal. Not even four minutes later, Jacob Black scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway, extending the Mustangs lead to two goals. Morrisville had taken complete control of the game.
Brockport looked deflated after the shorthanded goal, the fourth they have given up this season. They were rejuvenated after Dominic Chirico scored on a one-timer on the power play with almost a minute left in the second period. Chirico felt the team needed adjustments when it came to transitions to pull off a comeback.
“I think it just starts from the defensive zone out,” Chirico said. “I think we have to be more focused on getting the puck out of our zone and having clean breakouts.”
The Golden Eagles looked locked in and determined to come out with a win at the beginning of the third period. Chase Maxwell knotted the game at two early on but Abbott responded with his second goal of the game to put the Mustangs back up 3-2. From there the Golden Eagles unleashed.
Brockport would rattle off four unanswered goals to take complete control of the game. It all started with Andrew Harley scoring a powerplay goal on an odd-man rush. A little more than a minute later, Ramaekers scored a wraparound goal to give Brockport its first lead of the night.
In the back half of the third period, Ryan Brow buried a wrist shot past Boyonoski. To put the icing on the cake, Connor Galloway scored a one-timer, securing a 6-3 win for Brockport.
With the win the Golden Eagles secured the fifth seed in the SUNYAC playoffs. They clinched a playoff berth after losses by Buffalo State and Fredonia State Friday night.
Brockport will take on No. 5 seed Cortland in the first round of the playoffs. The Golden Eagles didn’t find much success against the Red Dragons in the regular season, going 0-2. However, Brockport head coach Brian Dickinson feels his team can exploit some weaknesses in Cortland.
“I still think their defense, although they got some skill back there, that’s the weak spot of their team,” Dickinson. “They are not really any more experienced than we are in terms of playoffs.”
Brockport will be on the road for the game on Wednesday, Feb. 21 with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.
