By: JERRY REILLY, Sports Information Director
FREDONIA, N.Y. – Fredonia State plays its first SUNYAC men's hockey games this weekend against the two Rochester-area teams.
The Blue Devils (2-0-0) visit Brockport, and then Geneseo, on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Start times each night are 7 p.m.
“The two wins last weekend were nice,” Blue Devil head coach
Jeff Meredith said. “But this weekend … things get a lot more intense.”
The Blue Devils spent the week working on areas that Meredith felt need improving off the two wins over Assumption, 4-1 and 5-1, last Friday and Saturday at Steele Hall. They also concentrated on raising what Meredith called “the compete-and-battle level.”
He said both Brockport and Geneseo have a tradition of playing a physical brand of hockey, especially on home ice.
“We have to be ready,” Meredith said. “I think we've had a very good week of practice.”
Brockport finished last in the nine-team conference in 2010-11 with a 2-13-1 SUNYAC record (4-18-3 overall). Head coach Brian Dickinson's team was last in scoring, tied for last in goals allowed, last on the power play, and last on the penalty kill.
The Golden Eagles opened their season last Saturday with a 5-3 loss at Utica.
While Brockport was descending the conference standings last season, Geneseo was ascending. The Ice Knights finished in second place with a 10-5-1 conference record (16-8-2 overall). That earned Chris Schultz his first SUNYAC Coach of the Year award in his fifth season behind the Geneseo bench.
Schultz returns a veteran team and if the reports are true, the Ice Knights also have a solid freshmen class. The Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena is a difficult place for visiting teams, although Adrian found it to its liking last Saturday with a 6-5 opening-night win over the Ice Knights.
Geneseo is also home Friday night against Buffalo State.
Meredith expects sophomore
Mark Friesen to start in goal each night for the Blue Devils. Also expected back in the lineup are two veterans who sat out last weekend with injuries, sophomore forwards
Andrew Christ and
Alex Perkins.
