BUFFALO, N.Y. – Nationally ranked Buffalo State held off Fredonia, 6-5, in SUNYAC men's hockey Friday night, the first of back-to-back games between the Western New York rivals. In the end, the Blue Devils (8-7-3 overall / 4-5-0 SUNYAC) were unable to dig out of a 4-1 hole after one period. They scored twice late in the third perid, yet could not score the equalizer.

First-period goals by Vadim Vasjonkin, Ben Butcher, Paul Cerda, and Zach Remers set the stage early for the Bengals (14-4-2 overall / 7-2-2 SUNYAC), ranked No. 14 by USCHO.com and D3hockey.com. Reid Bibb and Cody Symonds scored in less than a minute of the second period. Buffalo State went scoreless in the third period.

Sam Wilbur (Saginaw, Mich.), Colin Valentine (Turnersville, N.Y.), Ryan Dunn (Rockland, Mass.), Victor Tracy (Albany, N.Y.), and Jon Carlson (Fort Frances, Ont.) had the Fredonia goals. The goals by Valentine and Dunn were short-handed, yet the Blue Devils allowed three power-play goals and were 0 of 4 with their own man-advantage. The goals by Tracy and Carlson comprised Fredonia's third-period rally which fell just short.

Anton Rosen (Orsa, Sweden) started in the Fredonia net and stopped 3 of 7 shots in the first period before he was lifted at the start of the second period in favor of Eric Bogart (London, Ont.). Bogart stopped 12 of 14 shots over the final two periods.

A Fredonia penalty in the opening seconds led to the first Buffalo State goal by Vasjonkin just 1:50 into the game. He rushed out of his defensive end up the right boards and circled around the Fredonia defense before behind Rosen inside the near post. Fredonia pulled even on Wilbur's goal following a takeaway and pass ahead by Jamie Young (Russell, Ohio) at 3:27 of the first. It was the first of two assists credited to Young.

The Bengals took command with three unanswered goals. Butcher's power-play tally from in front of the crease came after Rosen made the initial stop. Cerda then converted a Fredonia turnover deep in its defensive end with a quick back-hander from the slot. The goal by Remers – a deflection of a shot from the point -- came in the final minute of the period and was also the result of a Fredonia turnover.

With frustration mounting, Fredonia took a penalty which carried over to the second period. Yet the Blue Devils cut the margin to 4-2 with a short-handed goal. Kyle Jelinski (Edmonton, Alberta) stole a drop pass in the neutral zone and Valentine scored on a breakaway 25 seconds into the second period. Bibb made it 5-2 when he stole the puck just inside the blue line and went in alone on Bogart. Less than a minute later, Symonds connected on a power play with a slapshot from the right circle to up the Bengal lead to 6-2. Dunn followed with Fredonia's second short-handed goal when he won a faceoff in the defensive end and beat Sylves with a knuckler from just outside the opposite blue line. The Blue Devils were unable to take advantage of a 4-on-3 power play late in the second period.

Tracy made it a two-goal game, 6-4, with a back-hander off a rebound of a shot by Mike Freeman (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif) with 4:13 left. Carlson then scored from the slot on a rebound of a shot by Young with 2:42 left. Fredonia pulled Bogart in favor of the extra skater with 40 seconds left and nearly tied the game on a wide-angle shot by Jimmy Morgan (Highlands Ranch, Col.) in the final seconds.

The teams – who combined for 64 minutes of penalties – meet again Saturday at 7 p.m. in Fredonia and play for the second of two points in the year-long Battle of the Lake series with the Bengals. The Blue Devils hold a 9-2 advantage in the series.