Re: Sunyac 2015
1. Plattsburgh (8-1-0 16pt) Just 1 loss at the break with the Morrisville weekend out of the way. Plattsburgh is leading the SUNYAC with a 1.89GAA and is 2nd behind Oswego in scoring offence with 4.44GA. The offence scoring nearly 5 goals a game is pretty impressive when you consider only 10% of their goals have been on the PP compared to Oswego’s 23%, Brockport 35%, and Buff States 43%. Not only does the Cardinals rank #1 in defense, but they also have the 3 Defensemen in the Top 3 Offensive Defensemen category.
So what is left for Plattsburgh? 4 Conference road games, 3 Conference home games. The biggest hurdle for the Western Buff State/Fredonia could be the trip itself the way those two teams are playing. This will set up a huge final weekend in Syracuse for what could be the SUNYAC regular season title.
2. Oswego (5-1-1 11pts) The Lakers got a much needed North Country sweep to end the first semester which could prove huge going into the final weekend. Once again the offense is there and the goaltending has become pretty stable. The ample amount of skill has the Oswego Power Play leading the Conference at 28.6%. The Lakers have 5 players in the Top 10 Points Per Game average and 10 players with 5 or more points.
Oswego will have a huge Valentine’s Day tilt with Geneseo, in Geneseo, where there won’t be any shortage of love. The Lakers will also host a pair of games against the up and coming Mustangs from Morrisville. While Morrisville has had their struggles, they are a .500 team going 1-1-1 over the last 3 games at the Campus Center. Oswego’s lone win over the Mustangs was a close 3-2 win.
3. Geneseo (5-4-0 10pts) The game against Plattsburgh early in the season really sums up Geneseo’s season so far. Looks great one minute, looks horrible the next. A team who loses to Potsdam and Buff State gets a win at the Campus Center against Oswego. Senior Tyler Brckler and goaltender Nick Horrigan have been bright spots for the Knights. One of the dull spots however has been the play, or there the lack of, forward Stephen Collins who has just 2 goals in the first 9 games for the Knights. Collins led the Knights with 11 goals last year along with graduated forward Zach Vit.
The Knights will need to get some more offensive production from someone other than Brickler to move up in the standings. The do get the Lakers at home, but already have 4 loses at the midway point with several teams below with two games at hand.
4. Brockport (3-3-1 7pts) Defense at Brockport? The Eagles find themselves 3rd in team defense with a 2.43GAA which includes Senior goaltender Aaron Green and his league leading .70GAA and .976 Save %. Offensively Brockport is struggling scoring at just 2.86 goals a game. If Brockport can continue to play a defensive style hockey, playoffs should be in the picture for the Eagles this year.
Brockport will pick up the 2nd SUNYAC semester by hosting two games against Morrisville. They have a home meeting with the Syracuse Duo and a trip to travel partner Geneseo sandwiched between a trip North to the North Country foes and a trip Lake Erie to close out the year .
T4. Cortland (3-5-1 7pts) It’s very rare you see Cortland hockey on top of anything positive. Forwards Nick Zappia, Darren McCormick and Dan Broderick lead the SUNYAC in Conference Points Per Game average. The good part is their 46 combined points. The bad part is, those 46 points make up 56% of Cortland TOTAL offense and 55% of their teams goals. Freshman goaltender Drew Weigman has done his best posting a .910 Save % and a 4.12 GAA. Already in just 10 Conference games, Weigman has faced 322 shots on goal. To give you an idea last year Plattsburgh’s Mathieu Cadieux, who was 2nd in minutes played (16 games) saw just 382 shots ALL SEASON.
While yes the Dragons are on a 3-1-1, but should we really get excited over beating University of New England, Southern New Hampshire, and Potsdam? Or should we look at the lone 7-1 loss against Plattsburgh in which Cortland gave up a season high 72 shots on goal? Cortland does get 5 of their remaining 7 Conference games at home, but with 5 loses already and already played the full 9 games the first semester, they had better pick up the defense and find someone other than the likes of Zappia, McCormick and Broderick to score or else they will sink in the standings faster than the Titanic (enough Laker references there?)
6. Buff State (2-4-2 8pts) The Bengals started off 2014-2015 showing some promise when forward Nick Melligan came out of the gate scoring a hattrick as Buffalo went up 3-0 on the Lakers. That would be the last goal of the game for Buff State and the last goal Melligan would score the rest of the season. The Bengals would give up 4 unanswred goals in route to a 3-4 loss to the Lakers. Still, a Carr-Less Bengals team raised a few eye brows. An OT win the next night over Cortland followed by 2 ties against Morrisville put a lot of teams on point. But when goaltender Mike DeLaVergne went down midway through the 1st period in their next contest against Plattsburgh, the Bengals would lose 5 straight before rebounding with a 3-2 OT win over in Geneseo. Freshman Ian Sylves and DeLaVergne had some huge shoes to fill with the graduation of Kevin Carr, and it hasn’t come easy. Bothe goaltenders are sporting a below .900 save% and a 3.80+ GAA.
Can Buffalo turn the page? They’ve taken the 2013-2014 Regular Season and Post Season Champions to the brink. There is some talent on the Bengals team and having 5 home games remaining of their 8 will help.
T6. Morrisville (2-5-2 6pts) After opening the season 0-2 against Geneseo being outscored 1-10 in those 2 games, Morrisville has really come into their own. The Mustangs have two wins over Cortland, 2 ties at Buff State, and 2 close losses in Plattsburgh. While Morrisville hasn’t played another SUNYAC game since Thanksgiving, they’ve gone 2-1-1 scoring wins over Skidmore and Williams, and a tie against Neumann. The Mustangs almost completed a 4 goal comeback in Utica in their last outing. Forward Joe Santino has been a bright spot for the 3rd offensively ranked Mustangs. Santino leads the Mustangs with 6 goals in 8 games. Freshman Steven Dombrosky has been steady in net for the Mustangs but will need to improve if the Mustangs want to be a contender.
Morrisville has 2 games each at home against Potsdam and Fredonia remaining, plus 2 road games each at Brockport and Oswego. If Morrisville can continue to play as well as they finished the first semester, moving up in the standings shouldn’t be an issue.
8. Potsdam (2-4-1 7pts) The Bears simply are not supporting goaltender Jon Hall with enough offense. In 6 games and nearly 80% of the time between the pipes, Hall has a .907 save% and a 3.36GAA yet is just 2-3-1 with his team pitching in 2.6 goals during those games. Senior forward Kenny Simon leads the team in goals with 4 and points with 7 through the 7 games so far. The Bears only have 2 other players with 5 or more points. The Bears need to have some more discipline as well. Tops in the SUNYAC with an average of 20 minutes a game. If that wasn’t bad enough, their penalty kill has only been clicking at 78% yielding 8 power play goals.
Potsdam needs some life. If they can get back to some discipline, hardnosed, gritty hockey they can surprise a few teams. They’ve dug themselves a hole I’m not sure they can come out of.
9. Fredonia (0-4-2 2pts) I really had high expectations for this Blue Devil team. Scoring just 9 goals in their 8 games so far is a conference low. Fredonia only has 2 players with 2 or more goals. Jeff Flagler (0-2-1) has really stepped up for the Blue Devils with a Conference GAA at 2.54 and a Save % at .920. But no matter how well the goaltending can play, when you’re averaging 1.50 goals a game, you’re not going to win too many games.
Senior forward Jared Wynia has pretty much been nonexistent this season. The career 27-14-41 senior has a lone assist in conference play so far. Fredonia has to get some more offense goaing. They do have 10 games remaining, which is the most of any school, but if you’re not putting the puck in the net more than 1.50 goals a game, having 20 games left wouldn’t put the Blue Devils in the playoffs.
So what do I expect coming down the stretch?
1. Plattsburgh will go 0-2 against Oswego in the regular season, but will finish at 14-2-0
2. Oswego will win whiteout weekend in OT, but lose another game to someone they should beat
3. Geneseo ? Why not? This team has too much talent to not be up in the standings
4. Brockport. A weekend sweep of Morrisville will help their standings.
5. Morrisville will squeek into the 5th spot on a tie breaker
6. Buff State. The Bengals won’t play another SUNYAC game until 1/23. Can they get DeLaVergne back?
7. Cortland. One. Line. Wonder. The will miss Buff State by 1 point
8. Potsdam will get 2 points from a team they shouldn’t
9. Fredonia, Santa all I want is some offense.
#6 Buff St @ #3Geneseo
#5 Morrisville @ #4 Brockport
#3 Geneseo @ #2 Oswego
#5 Morrisville @ #1 Plattsburgh
#3 Geneseo @ #1 Plattsburgh
Maybe I missed something over the summer, but what is this "Play-In game" ?? Or are we just hoping for another game?
Reply to #1.