GENESEO, N.Y.—
Brett Hope (Blenheim, ON/Blenheim) led an explosive Buffalo State offense with four points off one goal and three assists on Friday night as the Bengals raced past Geneseo 7-4 in a conference matchup.
THE BASICSFINAL SCORE: Buffalo State 7, Geneseo 4
LOCATION: Geneseo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (3-2-2/1-2-1 SUNYAC), Geneseo (3-1-2, 1-0-2 SUNYAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED- The Bengals took advantage of an early power play and got on the scoreboard off a goal from Nick Berst (Depew/Lancaster) with assists from Marcus Michalski (Woodstock, ON/St. Mary's Catholic) and Zach Nieminen (Ajax, ON/Notre Dame CSS) at 8:41.
- Seven minutes later, Buffalo State struck again as Mac Wood found the back of the net off a pass from Hope, putting the Bengals up 2-0.
- Geneseo managed to cut Buffalo State's lead in half with under four minute to play in the first period.
- In the second period, the Bengals came out firing. Jason Zaleski (Scranton, PA/Scranton) wasted little time finding the back of the net for Buffalo State's third goal at 2:31.
- Midway through the second period, Ryan Salkeld (Virginia Beach, VA/Churchland) scored his first of two goals on a power play opportunity.
- The Knights were not ready to back down and tallied a short-handed goal in the closing minutes of the period.
- Once again, the Bengals came out firing at the start of the third period. Nieminen scored just 1:09 into play.
- Salkeld pushed Buffalo State's lead out to four, 6-2, with his second goal of the game at 8:30.
- Geneseo scored two quick power play goals in the second half of the third period, but the Bengals sealed the game, scoring a seventh goal with 44 seconds left to play.
- 10 different players for Buffalo State tallied points in the win and the Bengals finished 2 for 5 on the power play.
- Mike DeLaVergne (Pawling, NY/Pawling) earned the win and recorded 31 saves.
FOR THE FOES- Stephen Collins led the Knights offense with one goal and seven shots.
- Matt Leon started in net for Geneseo and made eight saves in 28:55. Bradley Hawayek came in and made nine saves in 29:47.
- The Knights outshot the Bengals 35-24.
UP NEXTBuffalo State will return home on Saturday night to take on Brockport for a 7 p.m. SUNYAC matchup.