FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Four Fredonia State athletics programs are in action this weekend, Friday through Sunday. All four are on the road.
Here's an outlook on the weekend and the competition:
MEN'S HOCKEY -- The Blue Devils make their annual trek to the North Country, where they will visit Potsdam on Friday and Plattsburgh on Saturday. All three teams head into the weekend with 2-3 SUNYAC records, while Buffalo State -- Fredonia State's travel partner also in North Country this weekend -- are 2-2-1. This weekend could set the foundation for one or two of the teams to enhance their position in the standings. "I think that there is a template that we have to follow in order to have success," Fredonia State head coach
Jeff Meredith said. "Last Saturday (a 7-0 home win over Brockport), we played as close to that template as we have all year and I think we are making good progress towards making that a habit." Meredith is hoping for low-scoring games both nights. "We play two teams this weekend who are both explosive offensively," he said. "I don't think we have the firepower to play in 5-4 style of games," he said. "So we really need to hunker down and take care of our own end, manage the puck in the neutral zone and get pucks to the opponent's net so we can generate a quantity of shots."
While the hockey team will be far to the north, the three other programs will be playing in Pennsylvania, starting with ...
SWIMMING & DIVING -- The men's and women's teams have a dual meet Saturday afternoon at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa. Start time is 1 p.m. The host Gators are strong again this season, and come from a strong conference -- North Coast Athletic Conference -- of which perennial national champ Kenyon is a member. Yet the Blue Devils hung with the Gators when the teams met last season in Fredonia, and head coach
Arthur Wang is confident of another strong meet by the Blue Devils. "Last season's meets with Allegheny were more competitive," Wang said, "than the teams realized. Hopefully we can make this weekend even closer."
The swimmers and divers will be on the same Allegheny campus as ...
MEN'S BASKETBALL -- Fredonia State is part of Allegheny's four-team tournament, which runs Saturday and Sunday. The Blue Devils meet Catholic at 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by Pitt-Greensburg vs. Allegheny at 8 p.m. The consolation and championship games are 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Sunday. Fredonia State is coming off an opening-season loss Tuesday night to Penn State Behrend, and will face an uphill battle against Catholic, a strong program which won the 2001 NCAA Division III championship. "This will help us get ready for our always tough SUNYAC schedule," head coach Kevin Moore said. "We're still a work in progress and I feel that we're getting better every day. We've really got to get all our new players playing at a higher intensity level and once we do that I feel really good about the possibilities."
Also in on the Keystone State connection this Saturday and Sunday will be ...
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL -- Coming of an opening-night victory Tueday over Nazareth, the Blue Devils will face host Penn State Behrend at 6 p.m. Saturday, and either Westminster or Otterbein on Sunday afternoon. Game times Sunday are 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
