FREDONIA, N.Y. – Fredonia State entertains another nationally ranked team this weekend in SUNYAC men's hockey action.
No. 2 ranked Oswego visit the Steele Hall Ice Arena at 7 p.m. Friday. Last weekend, then No. 5-ranked Plattsburgh came to town.
“It just seems like each game in the SUNYAC gets bigger every weekend,” Fredonia State head coach
Jeff Meredith said. “Last Friday vs. Plattsburgh was huge and with the (7-2) loss made the Potsdam game that much bigger, which in turn makes this Friday vs. Oswego that much bigger.
“Our guys love playing SUNYAC games because of this.”
Fredonia State defeated Oswego, 2-1, in the SUNYAC semifinals last season. Oswego won both regular-season games.
This year, the Lakers (5-1-1/3-0-1) were the acclaimed preseason choice of SUNYAC coaches. They were No. 1 in last week's USCHO.com NCAA Division III poll, and dropped to No. 2 his week.
“Oswego is a perennial NCAA Frozen Four participant and certainly one of the top teams in the nation,” Meredith said. “I see a lot of parity in our league this year and whether we are playing to top team in the league or the bottom, we have to bring our best.
“I think our emphasis breaks down like this. We feel we have to work for 60 minutes, stay out of the penalty box, and get goaltending like we are accustomed to. If we do those things, we feel we will be right where we need to be.”
The Blue Devils rebounded from the loss to Plattsburgh with a 9-1 win over Potsdam last Saturday.
This weekend, Cortland is the Saturday opponent. The Red Dragons (3-2-0/2-2-0) are coming off a 5-4 overtime win over Morrisville State. The Mustangs then tied Oswego, 3-3, last Saturday.
“They are playing good hockey right now and getting a lot of help from some key guys,” Meredith said. “What has impressed me is how hard they are working. That fact combined with the fact that they are scoring both power-play and short-handed goals make Cortland a very dangerous team.”
Game time both nights is 7 p.m.
