PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Buffalo State men's hockey team couldn't recover from a slow start, as the Bengals opened 2022 with a 7-3 loss at Chatham Friday evening.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Chatham – 7, Buffalo State – 3
LOCATION: Frozen Pond Arena – Pittsburgh, Pa.
RECORDS: Chatham (4-6-2), Buffalo State (4-9)
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Joel Frazee (Monroe, Mich./Shreveport Mudbugs) led the Bengals with a pair of goals.
• Andrew Logar (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Corpus Christi Ice Rays) began the Bengal scoring with his goal in the first period.
• Matt Pasic (Cotuit ,Mass./Philadelphia Revolution), Bryan Colburn (Cumberland, R.I./Johnson & Wales), Connor Bizal (Elk River, Minn./Boston Jr. Rangers), and Roger Powers (Pittsford, N.Y./SUNY Canton), Parker Allison (Dallas, Texas/Neepawa Natives), and Tyler Vanuden (Fort Frances, Ont./Finlandia University) each added assists.
• Emil Norrman (Kungsbacka, Sweden/Dells Ducks) made seven saves in the opening 11:32. Connor Minch (Manchester, N.H./Islanders Hockey Club) made 24 saves over the final 48:38.

HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• The Cougars wasted little time getting on the board, converting on its second shot of the game as Chris Dusek ripped a shot from the far faceoff circle, past Norrman glove side 1:08 into the opening period.
• Chatham doubled the score at the tail end of its own power play, as Evan Mitchell redirected Carson Grainer's shot past Norrman at 11:01.
• Just seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Norrman tried to redirect the puck in front of net, but Tyler Inlow beat Norrman to the spot, as he finished into the open net.
• Chatham made it 4-0 at the 15:29 mark, as Matt Mood won the face-off, feeding it to Kenneth Gill for the one-timer.
• Buffalo State got on the board with 1:30 remaining in the period, as Logar poked in a rebound off Colburn's shot.
• Buffalo State increased the pressure in the second period, and that paid off as Frazee brought the deficit to two with a backhanded beauty, going top shelf at the 2:43 mark.
• Chatham responded nearly three minutes later, as J.J. Fecteau tallied his first goal of the year on an assist by Inlow and Caden Shwetz.
• At 15:35 mark, Mitchell scored his second of the game for Chatham, converting on a 2-on-1 break with Fecteau garnering the assist.
• Mitchell then recorded the hat-trick with a shorthanded goal just over two minutes later, forcing the turnover in the neutral zone.
• The Bengals scored to open the third period, as Frazee took a quick shot on the break, surprising Cougar goalie Ricardo Gonzalez on an even-man rush at 4:45.
• The Bengals were unable to close the gap further, but took eight shots in the final period.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Mitchell recorded the first hat trick of his career, scoring thrice.
• Dusek, Inlow, Fecteau, and Gill also tallied goals.
• Inlow, Mood, Shwetz, Grainer, Aidan Girduckis, Chris Dusek, Michael Lamison, Tristan Simm, Andrew Warhoftig, and Jackson Koblick each tallied an assist.
• Ricardo Gonzalez stopped 17 shots in the decision for Chatham.
• Chatham out shot Buffalo State by a 38-20 margin.

UP NEXT
The Bengals return to home ice to finish the weekend, taking on Nazareth from the Buffalo State Ice Arena on Saturday in a 7 p.m. start.