Saturday, December 2, 2017

Brockport beats Cortland

The College at Brockport ice hockey team defeated conference foe SUNY Cortland Friday evening by a final score of 3-1. The Golden Eagles move to 6-3-1 on the year, where the Red Dragons fall to 3-7.

Both teams went toe-to-toe in the first period but it was David Horan for the Green and Gold to get the scoring started in the 11th minute to take a 1-0 lead. Ryan Romeo hit Dylan Shapiro with a pass and crossed the blue line into the offense third, where he found a trailing Horan who ripped the shot passed the goalie. Brockport doubled their lead moments later when Shapiro collected a loose puck in front of the net, which he buried into the back of the goal. The Golden Eagles were tested late in the period on a Cortland power play, but goaltender Matt Schneider saved all shots on frame to keep the score 2-0 heading into the first break.

Brockport's lead was cut in the 10th minute of the second period when Cortland tallied their first goal of the game to bring the score to 2-1. The Green and Gold's offense picked up the pace and dominated the next seven minutes of play, which resulted in another Shapiro goal to extend the lead to 3-1. Aidan Verbeke carried the puck across the ice and took a shot on frame to have the rebound go right to Shapiro on the far side to then score on the open net.  Brockport had another scoring opportunity late in the second on the power play, but could not convert as the score stayed the same heading into the final period.

The Golden Eagles found some trouble early in the third period when Cortland was award a penalty shot opportunity. The Red Dragon player tried to deke Schneider to the right but was unsuccessful as the puck was poked away. Brockport played lock-down defense for the remainder of the period fending off two Cortland power plays to win the contest by the eventual score.

Shapiro led the offense for the Golden Eagles as he accounted for two goals and one assist, where Horan finished with one goal and Romeo dished out one assist. Schneider finished the contest with 26 saves in between the pipes.