SUNYAC SEMIFINALS – #5 BUFFALO STATE BENGALS AT #1 OSWEGO STATE LAKERS
Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023 – 7:00 PM
Deborah F. Stanley Arena – Oswego, NY
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VIDEO (OFFICIAL SUNYAC BROADCAST)
THE MATCHUP… Fifth-seeded Buffalo State heads into the SUNYAC Semifinals against the top-seeded Lakers of Oswego State.
This will be 62
nd meeting of the teams since 1993, and fourth time that the teams will play in the SUNYAC Tournament. Oswego has defeated Buffalo State in the three previous meetings: 5-2 in 2013 (semifinals), 2-0 in 2015 (semifinals), and 6-2 in 2017 (semifinals).
The Lakers hold a 53-4-4 edge over the Bengals in the previous meetings, including victories in the past six matchups. Oswego defeated Buffalo State twice this season: 7-3 on February 17
th, and 5-2 on December 9
th.
THE BENGALS' LAST GAME… Aidan LaValley (Champlain, NY/Vermont Lumberjacks) scored 17 seconds into the opening period, giving the Buffalo State men's hockey team the lead for good, and the Bengals hung on for a 3-2 victory over Cortland in the SUNYAC First Round.
Nikita Kozyrev (Tallinn, Estonia/Springfield Jr. Blues) and
Jared Figueroa (Scotch Plains, NJ/Florida Eels) also netted goals for Buffalo State, while Kozyrev contributed an assist. LaValley netted his fourth goal of the season, recording a point for the third consecutive game.
Emil Norrman (Kungsbacka, Sweden/Dells Ducks) turned aside 39 shots for his 14
th victory, tied for the third-most victories in a single season in program history.
Parker Allison's (Dallas, TX/Neepawa Natives) initial shot from the point went wide of the net, but ricocheted off the boards out front to LaValley, who tapped the puck home for the goal with 19:43 remaining in the opening period.
Figueroa doubled the Buffalo State lead with under four minutes remaining, scoring on a breakaway after a Cortland defenseman slipped on the ice. Norrman stopped 14 shots in the period as the Bengals held a 2-0 edge into intermission.
Buffalo State continued its dominance with the man advantage, scoring a power-play goal on its only opportunity of the game early in the second period.
Tyler Vanuden (Fort Frances, ON/Finlandia University) passed behind the net to Glamos, who sent a quick pass out front for a wrist shot by Kozyrev into the top corner of the net. Buffalo State held the 3-0 lead into the second intermission.
Norrman was finally beaten with 7:58 remaining in the third on a breakaway goal by Colby Seitz on the Red Dragons' 33
rd shot of the night, giving Cortland life. The Red Dragons pulled within one with 4:12 remaining in the game, sneaking a rebound past Norrman.
Over the final minutes,
Andrew Logar (Niagara Falls, NY/Corpus Christi Ice Rays) blocked multiple shot attempts by Cortland, and the Bengals hung on despite a barrage of shots from the Red Dragons after pulling their goalie.
AWARDED… The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) announced its men's hockey all-conference teams on Thursday morning, with four Buffalo State players being recognized.
Nikita Kozyrev was selected to the first team,
Emil Norrman was a second team selection, and
Joe Glamos was honored on the third team. Freshman forward
Aidan LaValley was named to the SUNYAC All-Rookie team.
AT THE TOP… Nikita Kozyrev leads the SUNYAC with 33 points this season, and also holds the team lead with 14 goals.
Joe Glamos is right behind with 32 points, and has dished out a conference-best mark of 19 assists.
HELPERS… On Buffalo State's 86 goals this season, the Bengals have also recorded 147 assists. Their team assist mark ranks 22nd in the country this season.
WINNER WINNER… Tyler Vanuden has netted four game-winning goals this season for Buffalo State. That mark ranks him second in the conference, and ninth 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 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 eight of the last 11 seasons.
MANNING UP… Buffalo State continues to be one of the best teams with the man advantage this season. The Bengals have converted 21 of 79 opportunities on the power play this season, and their 26.6% success rate is the best in the SUNYAC, and eighth best in the country. Buffalo State has also scored at least one power-play goal in 17 of its 26 games this season, including the game-winning goal against Cortland.
JUST THE NORRM… Goalie
Emil Norrman leads the SUNYAC with 770 saves this season, is third with a .929 save percentage, and fifth with a 2.73 goals against average. His save percentage also ranks him 21
st 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,
Ryan Messing (Hamburg, NY/Metro Jets),
Emil Norrman,
Lucas Patton (Sechelt, BC/Finlandia University),
Roger Powers (Pittsford, NY/SUNY Canton), and
Tyler Vanuden.
A LOOK AT THE LAKERS… Oswego enters with a 16-8-1 overall record (12-4-0 SUNYAC), riding a four-game winning streak into the SUNYAC Tournament and ranked 15
th in the most recent USCHO.com poll. The Lakers have won 10 SUNYAC Championships, but have not lifted the trophy since the 2013-14 season.
Shane Bull's 27 points lead Oswego this season, while Alex DiCarlo has recorded a team-high 12 goals. The Lakers have the most team assists this season with 159, and boast the second-highest scoring offense, and 12
th-best nationally, at 3.80 goals per game.
In goal for Oswego is freshman Cal Schell, who has a 2.19 goals-against average, .924 save percentage, and a 13-7-1 overall record. Schell has also registered two shutouts, second-most in the SUNYAC and tied for ninth in the country.
The penalty kill has struggled for Oswego this season, killing just 80.0% of penalties. However, the Lakers have been able to stay out of the penalty box, only taking an average of 8.6 penalty minutes per game, the best mark in the conference.
The Lakers had three players named to the SUNYAC All-Conference teams on Thursday. Alex DiCarlo was named to the second team, Shane Bull was selected to the third team, and Cal Schell was honored on the All-Rookie team.
SCHEDULES/RESULTS…
BUFFALO STATE BENGALS (14-12-0)
OSWEGO STATE LAKERS (16-8-1)
