BUFFALO, NY — The Buffalo State men's hockey team dropped their 2022 home opener on Saturday evening, falling to Nazareth 6-3 in a non-conference contest at the Ice Arena.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Nazareth – 6, Buffalo State – 3
LOCATION: Ice Arena – Buffalo, NY
RECORDS: Nazareth (4-8-1), Buffalo State (4-10)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Lucas Patton(Sechelt, BC/Finlandia University) tallied his first goal as a Bengal in the first period.
- Reg Udris (Stende, Latvia/Florida Eels) and Kerry Kruzel notched their first collegiate goals in the second period.
- Connor Bizal (Elk River, MN/Boston Jr. Rangers) registered two assists to lead Buffalo State.
- Andrew Logar (Niagara Falls, NY/Corpus Christi Ice Rays) went 15-and-8 on faceoff attempts.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Nazareth scored two goals in just over a minute to take a 2-0 lead late in the opening period.
- Buffalo State responded just twenty seconds later, as Patton found the back of the net with 16.8 seconds remaining in the period.
- The Golden Flyers extended the lead to 4-1 with two goals early in the second period.
- Once again, the Bengals responded quickly. This time, Udris knocked a perfect feed from Bizal into the back of the next just twenty-one seconds later.
- Kruzel sent a wrist shot past the Nazareth goalie to reduce the Buffalo State deficit to 4-3 with just over ten minutes left in the second period.
- The Golden Flyers restored their two-goal advantage less than two minutes later from a wrist shot from close range.
- The teams entered the second intermission with the score 5-3 in the favor of Nazareth.
- The Golden Flyers added another insurance goal just five minutes into the final period for the final tally.
FOR THE FOES
- Ray Falso led Nazareth with two goals and one assist.
- Twelve players registered a point for the Golden Flyers.
- Matt Sayles turned aside 29 of 32 shots to earn the win in goal.
UP NEXT
The Bengals return to action next Friday when they travel to take on Oswego in SUNYAC action.
