SUNYAC FIRST ROUND – #5 BUFFALO STATE BENGALS AT #4 CORTLAND RED DRAGONS
Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023 – 7:00 PM
Alumni Arena – Cortland, NY

FOLLOW ALONG…
 
LIVE STATS
VIDEO (BUFFALO STATE BROADCAST)
VIDEO (OFFICIAL SUNYAC BROADCAST)

THE MATCHUP… Fifth-seeded Buffalo State heads into the SUNYAC First Round against an extremely familiar foe in the fourth-seeded Red Dragons. The teams faced off on Friday evening, with Cortland coming out on top by a 3-1 final score. However, the Bengals had already clinched the fifth seed, and the contest had no significance towards SUNYAC seeding due to other results around the conference.
 
This will be 66^th meeting of the teams since 1993, but only the second season that the teams will face off in the SUNYAC Tournament. Cortland advanced past Buffalo State in the SUNYAC Quarterfinals in the 2001-02 season in a mini game after the teams each won one game.

The Bengals hold a 31-25-9 edge over Cortland since 1993, and the teams split a pair of contests this season, each winning on their home ice.
 
THE BENGALS' LAST GAME… The Buffalo State men's hockey team fell to Cortland by a final score of 3-1 on Saturday evening in the regular season finale. Nikita Kozyrev (Tallinn, Estonia/Springfield Jr. Blues) scored the lone Buffalo State goal, while Joe Glamos (Baldwinsville, NY/New Jersey Titans) provided the assist. Liam Gross (Fort Washington, PA/New Jersey Rockets) stopped 40 shots in goal for the Bengals in a losing effort.
 
Gross stopped all 12 shots he faced in the first period to keep the Red Dragons scoreless and the top-ranked unit on the power play in the SUNYAC gave the Bengals the lead into the intermission. Just eight seconds after a Buffalo State power play began, Glamos stole the puck behind the Cortland goal and fed Kozyrev out front for a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net with 31 seconds remaining in the period.

Cortland answered with a power-play goal of its own just after the midway point of the second period, on a redirection in front of goal to knot the score at 1-1. The Red Dragons added an even-strength goal on a rebound after an initial shot hit the crossbar with under three minutes left in the period to take a 2-1 edge into the third.

Gross made 16 saves in the third period to keep the deficit at one for the majority of the frame. In the final minutes of the third period, Nate Berke netted the insurance goal for Cortland after a turnover in the neutral zone, shooting just out of the reach of a diving Gross.

AT THE TOP… Nikita Kozyrev and Joe Glamos are locked in a tie atop the SUNYAC leaderboard in points. The pair have each recorded 31 points this season, with Kozyrev holding the team lead in goals with 13, while Glamos has dished out a conference-best mark of 19 assists.
 
WINNER WINNER… Tyler Vanuden (Fort Frances, ON/Finlandia University) has netted four game-winning goals this season for Buffalo State. That mark ranks him second in the conference, and eighth in the country.

POINT PER GAME PLAYER… Nikita Kozyrev has recorded 79 points in 71 games in his career. He's currently 12^th on Buffalo State's all-time scoring list, and will become just the sixth Bengal to play in over 70 games in a career while averaging over a point per game.

BACK WHERE THEY BELONG… The Bengals have now reached the SUNYAC Tournament in 14 of the last 16 seasons, including six of seven seasons under Head Coach Steve Murphy. Buffalo State has also reached the SUNYAC Semifinals in seven of the last ten seasons.

MANNING UP… Buffalo State continues to be one of the best teams with the man advantage this season. The Bengals have converted 20 of 78 opportunities on the power play this season, and their 25.6% success rate is the best in the SUNYAC, and seventh best in the country. Buffalo State has also scored at least one power-play goal in 16 of its 25 games this season.

JUST THE NORRM… Goalie Emil Norrman leads the SUNYAC with 731 saves this season, is second with a .929 save percentage, and tied for fifth with a 2.77 goals against average. His save percentage also ranks him 24^th in the country this season.

PLAYING BY THE RULES… The Bengals have taken the second-fewest penalty minutes in the SUNYAC this season, averaging just 9.2 penalty minutes per game.  

SCORE FOUR, WIN MORE… Buffalo State holds a 11-1-0 record in games scoring at least four goals, including 7-0-0 in contests against SUNYAC opponents.

HITTING THE BOOKS… The Buffalo State men's hockey team sports a cumulative 3.29 GPA as a team, and also had 12 players selected to the Dean's List in the Fall 2022 semester: Parker Allison (Dallas, TX/Neepawa Natives), Connor Bizal (Elk River, MN/Boston Jr. Rangers), Chris Blango (Chadds Ford, PA/Philadelphia Little Flyers), Hayden Ford (Medford, NJ/Philadelphia Revolution), Joel Frazee (Monroe, MI/Shreveport Mudbugs), Timur Gavrilovich (Minsk, Belarus/South Shore Kings), Andrew Logar (Niagara Falls, NY/Corpus Christi Ice Rays), Ryan Messing (Hamburg, NY/Metro Jets), Emil Norrman (Kungsbacka, Sweden/Dells Ducks), Lucas Patton (Sechelt, BC/Finlandia University), Roger Powers (Pittsford, NY/SUNY Canton), and Tyler Vanuden.

RESEARCHING THE RED DRAGONS…  Cortland enters with a 16-8-1 overall record (11-5-0 SUNYAC), and riding a three-game winning streak into the SUNYAC Tournament.

Scoring has been the biggest strength of Cortland this season, as the Red Dragons boast the top scoring margin in the conference, and eighth-best nationally, at 4.12 goals per game.

At the helm of Cortland's offense is Domenic Settimo, who has scored 29 points on a conference-best 15 goals, including 10 goals in SUNYAC play. However, Buffalo State has held Settimo to just one point on a secondary assist in two games this season. Nate Berke holds the top on-ice rating in the conference at plus (+) 21. He has 25 points on 11 goals and 14 assists, second on the team in all three categories.

Defensemen Nick Grupp and Johnny Facchini are also contributing offensively for Cortland, with Grupp's six goals ranking third amongst defensemen in the SUNYAC, and Facchini's 15 assists are second amongst conference defensemen.

Cortland also has the second-best power play and penalty kill percentages in the conference, and is ranked in the top 15 in the country in each category. The Red Dragons have allowed just 12 goals on 101 opportunities on the penalty kill (88.1%), while scoring on 22 of 87 attempts with the man advantage (25.3%).

In goal for the Red Dragons is reigning SUNYAC Herb Hammond Co-Player of the Year and SUNYAC Goaltender of the Year Luca Durante. Durante has recorded 661 saves, a .919 save percentage, and 2.77 goals against average in 22 games. He has a 14-7-1 record, as well as three shutouts.
 
SCHEDULES/RESULTS…

BUFFALO STATE (13-12-0, 8-8 SUNYAC)


CORTLAND (16-8-1, 11-5-0 SUNYAC)