BUFFALO, N.Y.—Senior defenseman Todd Graham (Melbourne, Australia) had two goals and an assist and Mike DeLaVergne (Pawling, NY/Pawling) made 28 saves for his third shutout of the season as host Buffalo State pounded visiting Cortland, 7-0, in the regular season finale to secure the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye entering the SUNYAC playoffs for the first time in school history.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 7, Cortland – 0
LOCATION: Ice Arena – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (15-6-4/11-4-1), Cortland (9-12-4/3-10-3)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Ryan Salkeld (Virginia Beach, VA/Churchland) added a goal and two assists, and Jonathan Hall (Greenfield, IN/Connections Academy) scored a goal and had a helper.
Zach Nieminen (Ajax, ON/Notre Dame CSS), Ryan Stayner (Youngstown, NY/Nichols), and Mac Wood (Simcoe, ON/SCS) also scored for Buffalo State.
Jake Rosen (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville North) and Sean Hrivnak (Laval, QC/College Laval) had two assists apiece.
Neither team scored in the first period, despite Buffalo State ringing a pair of shots off the goalpost in the game’s opening three minutes.
The floodgates opened early in the middle frame, with the Bengals netting three goals in the first 5:13 of the period.
Salkeld opened the scoring with his 14th of the year on the power play, before Stayner scored his first as a Bengals just 1:05 later. Graham netted his first of the year a couple minutes later, and Nieminen scored his sixth of the season before the second intermission.
Buffalo State scored two more quick goals at the start of the third frame, with Hall netting his second of the year just 2:33 in, before Wood scored his ninth on the power play just 59 seconds later.
Graham added his second of the game late on the power play.
Buffalo State outshot the Red Dragons, 36-28. The Bengals were 3 for 5 with the man-advantage, while Cortland was 0 for 2.
FOR THE FOES
Drew Weigman played the whole game for Cortland in goal, finishing with 29 saves.
NOTEWORTHY
Geneseo tied Plattsburgh 3-3 tonight, moving the Bengals into a tie for second place in the conference standings with 23 points. By defeating Geneseo twice during the regular season, the Bengals secured the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye for the first time in the history of the program.
DeLaVergne set a new school record for wins in a season by a goalie with 14 and tied the school mark for shutouts in a season with three.
Buffalo State has shutout Cortland for 147 minutes and 41 seconds consecutively dating back to Jan. 24, 2015
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will host a SUNYAC semifinal contest for the first time ever on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. The opponent is to be determined.
