BUFFALO, N.Y.—Senior defenseman Todd Graham (Melbourne, Australia) had two goals and an assist and Mike DeLaVergne (Pawling, NY/Pawling) made 28 saves for his third shutout of the season as host Buffalo State pounded visiting Cortland, 7-0, in the regular season finale to secure the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye entering the SUNYAC playoffs for the first time in school history.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 7, Cortland - 0
LOCATION:  Ice Arena – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (15-6-4/11-4-1), Cortland (9-12-4/3-10-3)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ryan Salkeld (Virginia Beach, VA/Churchland) added a goal and two assists, and Jonathan Hall (Greenfield, IN/Connections Academy) scored a goal and had a helper.
• Zach Nieminen (Ajax, ON/Notre Dame CSS), Ryan Stayner (Youngstown, NY/Nichols), and Mac Wood (Simcoe, ON/SCS) also scored for Buffalo State.
• Jake Rosen (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville North) and Sean Hrivnak (Laval, QC/College Laval) had two assists apiece.
• Neither team scored in the first period, despite Buffalo State ringing a pair of shots off the goalpost in the game's opening three minutes.
• The floodgates opened early in the middle frame, with the Bengals netting three goals in the first 5:13 of the period. 
• Salkeld opened the scoring with his 14^th of the year on the power play, before Stayner scored his first as a Bengals just 1:05 later.  Graham netted his first of the year a couple minutes later, and Nieminen scored his sixth of the season before the second intermission.
• Buffalo State scored two more quick goals at the start of the third frame, with Hall netting his second of the year just 2:33 in, before Wood scored his ninth on the power play just 59 seconds later.
• Graham added his second of the game late on the power play.
• Buffalo State outshot the Red Dragons, 36-28.  The Bengals were 3 for 5 with the man-advantage, while Cortland was 0 for 2.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Drew Weigman played the whole game for Cortland in goal, finishing with 29 saves.

 
NOTEWORTHY

• Geneseo tied Plattsburgh 3-3 tonight, moving the Bengals into a tie for second place in the conference standings with 23 points.  By defeating Geneseo twice during the regular season, the Bengals secured the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye for the first time in the history of the program.
• DeLaVergne set a new school record for wins in a season by a goalie with 14 and tied the school mark for shutouts in a season with three.
• Buffalo State has shutout Cortland for 147 minutes and 41 seconds consecutively dating back to Jan. 24, 2015

  
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will host a SUNYAC semifinal contest for the first time ever on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. The opponent is to be determined.