SUNYAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET
TOURNAMENT QUICK FACTS
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Does the Fredonia State men's hockey team have another SUNYAC playoff run in it?
The question will begin to be answered Wednesday night when the Blue Devils travel to Geneseo for a first-round game.
Opening faceoff is 7 p.m.
Fredonia State has fared well in tournament road games in recent seasons. Since SUNYAC adopted a single-elimination tournament format in 2006-07 season, the Blue Devils are 5-2 in SUNYAC Tournament road games compared to 1-1 at home.
They won the 2007 tournament with three wins, all on the road, and last season won two straight road games before losing at Plattsburgh in the SUNYAC championship game.
"I think if you are the No. 1 or No. 2 seed," Fredonia State head coach
Jeff Meredith said, "then home ice is a bigger advantage. As the No. 3 to No. 6 seed, with all teams being pretty equal, it can put a lot of pressure on you to play at home. There are a lot of distractions where as when you play on the road, you just get on the bus, get off, and play."
The Blue Devils, the No. 5 seed, won the most recent regular-season meeting between the teams, 4-2, Jan. 21 at Steele Hall.
Brett Mueller,
Billy Sanborn,
Mike Muhs, and
Mat Hehr had the Blue Devil goals and goaltender
Mark Friesen made 29 saves.
Meredith anticipates a style of game more akin to their first meeting this season, a 2-1 Geneseo home win Oct. 29. The Ice Knights led 1-0 after two periods before Bradley Nunn scored the equalizer early in the third period. Geneseo's David Arduin netted the game-winner with 3:46 remaining.
"I look for the game to be pretty physical and tight," Meredith said. "Both teams have been probably not scoring as many goals as they would like to this time of year however, both are defending pretty strong. I would imagine that this might hold true for Wednesday night."
With that in mind, Meredith feels special teams will play a big part in the outcome. The Blue Devils were 0 of 8 on the power play compared to 2 of 8 by the Ice Knights in the two earlier games. Geneseo is the No. 4 seed.
"We have to win the special teams game and finish the night positive on our combined PP and PK," Meredith said. "That might be one of the biggest keys."
