By: Brayden Peters
BROCKPORT, N.Y. - The Golden Eagles were hoping to start a string of wins, but that didn't happen after losing 8-2 against Geneseo. The Ice Knights were tied for second in national rankings going into the game and have been on fire all season long. This game really showed how good the Ice Knights were and the things Brockport needs to work on if they want to secure a playoff spot.
The Ice Knights came out guns blazing in the first period. Although an early power play was shut down by Brockport, Geneseo forward Alex Dameski buried a goal and another after fellow forward Tyson Gilmour scored late in the period. With those goals, Geneseo was able to take the game into the first intermission.
The Ice Knights were all over the puck during the first period, putting Brockport's defense on their heels. The Golden Eagles allowed many odd man rushes to develop and it seemed constantly that their goalie David Filak was left out to dry. He made numerous, incredible saves in the period, but it was never enough to prevent goals from being scored. Also, the defense struggled to clear the puck in the first half of the first period, giving the Ice Knights numerous offensive opportunities.
As for Brockport's offense, they did a solid job getting up the ice with speed. However, they were pretty much one and done after every shot they had on Geneseo's goalie Jacob Torgner. One of their positives in the period was Schuyler Flansburg, who was coming off of an injury and played very physical.
"I feel great," Flansburg said. "You know, it's been a great journey, just getting through everything and it's good to be back with the boys in the lockerroom and everything."
The second period wasn't any better for Brockport. Buffalo native Anthony Bruno scored his third career goal on a wrist shot to put the Ice Knights up 4-0. Although they continued to build upon their momentum, Brockport was able to respond with forward Chase Maxwell scoring on a backhander for his fifth goal of the season.
The Golden Eagles continued to apply offensive pressure, but their defensive woes continued. Forward Teddy Purcell picked up a goal on a deflected shot and not even a minute later, Dameski scored a hat trick to put the Ice Knights up 6-1. After this goal, Filak was benched for Dylan Weimer.
Brockport looked absolutely deflated and even with Weimer replacing Filak, the goals kept coming for the Ice Knights. Forward Cooper Fensterstock scored on a very nice one timer seconds before the end of the second period, putting Geneseo up 7-1 going into the second intermission. Brockport just couldn't find ways to stop the offensive onslaught of the Ice Knights and struggled to create high quality scoring chances. Golden Eagles senior forward, alternate captain and Buffalo native Scott Ramaekers saw a trend in the team during the game.
"We just need to compete more," Ramaekers said. "I think we are playing hard at times and then we lost the gas for five minutes and three go in our net. We lose our defensive responsibilities."
Brockport's defense did tighten up and started to play more sound in the third period. Them and Weimer prevented the Ice Knights from taking advantage of some opportunities to score and forced them to move the puck around as much as possible. After finding little success again on the power play on a five-on-three man advantage, forward Jared Thomas deflected a shot from defenseman Cameron Cervone into the net, extending the Ice Knights lead to seven goals.
Not even three minutes later, though, Brockport forward Manny Sanchez sniped a shot up top passed Torgner to cut the deficit back to six goals. However for Brockport, this would be their last goal of the game and the last goal from both teams as the Ice Knights were able to seal the 8-2 victory. Brockport head coach Brian Dickinson believed that a lot of critical mistakes, not just the talent that Geneseo has, hurt Brockport throughout the entirety of the game.
"...we made a lot of sloppy mistakes," Dickinson said. "When you do that against anybody in our league, the results show it. But when you're playing with one of the top teams arguably could be the top team in the country, that's the result you get."
Brockport drops to 6-10-2 on the year with the loss and now have a 3-6 record in SUNYAC play. As for Geneseo, the win helps them improve to 15-2 and 7-1 in SUNYAC play. Brockport will get a week to prepare for their next home game against Potsdam on Friday, who is coming off of a 4-0 shutout win against Morrisville State. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.