FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Playing the same opponent on consecutive nights is fairly common in men's college hockey. Much rarer, at least for the Fredonia State Blue Devils, is when that opponent is another SUNYAC team.
Yet that's just what will occur when the Blue Devils play host to the Morrisville State Mustangs on Friday and Saturday nights. Both games begin at 7 p.m. Saturday's game is the annual Pink The Rink event.
Not since the 2007-08 have the Blue Devils played a SUNYAC back-to-back, and that too was against the Mustangs. The Blue Devils won both those games at Morrisville, 3-1 and 3-2.
Fredonia State and Morrisville State also played a back-to-back in 2006-07, yet that was before the Mustangs had joined the SUNYAC. There is no other record of a Fredonia State regular-season SUNYAC series against the same opponent on consecutive days.
"This weekend," Blue Devil head coach
Jeff Meredith said, "is a two-part weekend for us, like most weekends, even though we are playing the same team both nights. It is two-part because the only game we want and need right now is the Friday game that is right in front of us."
The Blue Devils enter the weekend with seven points and the Mustangs with five points in the SUNYAC standings. Each is currently in a fight for the sixth and final playoff spot, which Fredonia State currently owns.
Fredonia State killed all five penalties last weekend in conference games against Oswego and Cortland, yet came away with only one point -- in a 3-3 tie with Cortland after leading 2-0. Morrisville State's power-play has accounted for 29 of the team's 63 goals, so another strong Blue Devil penalty kill is important. In addition, the Blue Devills will look to carry their recent quick starts -- they have scored the first goal in four of their last six games -- into the middle portion of the game.
Doors open Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in advance of the annual Pink The Rink game. Presale tickets for Saturday are available until noon Friday at the athletic department office inside Dods Hall. Prices are $7 for adults, $3 for non-Fredonia State students, and $2 for Fredonia State students with a valid ID.
