BOXSCORE FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Fredonia State scored first and scored last to come away with a 2-2 tie with Buffalo State in SUNYAC men's ice hockey at Steele Hall.

Freshman winger Blake Forslund (Owen Sound, Ont.) scored the game-tying goal midway through the second period to support a first-period goal by freshman winger Hunter Long (Lebanon, Tenn.).

Sean Hrivnak and Mike Zanella had the Buffalo State goals, who remained three points ahead of the Blue Devils in the SUNYAC standings.

Should the season end today, the Bengals would be the No. 4 seed and would host the No. 5 seeded Blue Devils in the first round of the playoffs.

Buffalo State goaltender Kevin Carr made 37 saves while Fredonia State freshman Jeff Flagler (Owen Sound, Ont.) was credited with 33 stops.

Long opened the scoring with his third goal of the season at 6:10 of the first period when converted a rebound off a shot from senior Alex Perkins (St. Albert, Alberta). Sophomore defenseman Kurt Gottschalk (Markham, Ont.) was also credited with an assist.

Hrivnak got the Bengals on the board at 10:57 when he carried the puck over the blue line and shot through a screen. The play began in the opposite end when Taylor Pryce won a battle in the corner and passed to Dan Turgeon, who put a pass up the boards to Hrivnak for his second goal of the season. 

Pryce and Turgeon also earned assists on Zanella's goal at 3:13 of the second period. Pryce's shot was blocked by a Fredonia player and deflected to Zanella in the slot, who connected for his seventh goal.
 
Perkins set up Fredonia State's tying goal when he passed to Long, who got the puck from behind to the front of the cage. The puck came to rest between Carr's pad and the post. Forslund tapped it home during the ensuing scramble for his fifth goal of the season. It came at 9:43 of the second period.

The tie was the second of the season between the teams, their previous 4-4 deadlock coming last Nov. 22 in Buffalo. It was also the sixth tie of the season for the Blue Devils (7-10-6 overall, 4-5-5 SUNYAC), a new Fredonia State single-season high.

Six Fredonia State players were making their final regular-season home appearance: Perkins and fellow seniors Andrew Christ (Spokane, Wash.), Ryan Edens (Sherwood Park, Alberta), and Tyler Palmerton (Manlius, N.Y.); and two juniors who'll graduate early, Chad Bennett (Burlington, Ont.) and Matt Owczarczak (Buffalo, N.Y.) 

Related Videos

Now Playing:

• Play Video