(BOX SCORE)

UTICA, NY— Mike Zannella (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) netted his 10th and 11th goals of the season as visiting Buffalo State (4-6-1) rallied to force overtime, but fell 4-3 to nationally No. 10-ranked Utica (7-2) in a non-conference game tonight at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

The Bengals trailed 1-0 after the first period despite outshooting the Pioneers 15-10, but came up empty after seven minutes of power-play time.  Zannella evened the score in the first minute of the second period with an assist from Nick Melligan (Sanborn, NY/Niagara-Wheatfield).  Utica reclaimed the lead with a “pinball” goal less than a minute later, however.  The Pioneers added another marker late in the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the final frame.

Zannella tallied his second of the game 6:41 into the third period, again assisted by Melligan, to pull the Bengals to within one.  Buffalo State continued to apply the pressure and netted the equalizer when Matt Bessing (Elma, NY/Cheektowaga) banged home a rebound with 1:40 remaining in regulation.  Melligan picked up his third assist of the game on the goal.

After a couple of Bengal chances in the extra period, it was the Pioneers that ended the game with 1:14 remaining, when as second chance shot found the back of the net.

Utica outshot Buffalo State, 41-35, as Kevin Carr (Uniondale, ON/Uniondale) made 37 saves for the Bengals.

Buffalo State will next visit Hobart on Wednesday for another non-conference game at 7 p.m.