BUFFALO, N.Y.– Zach Nieminen (Ajax, ON/Notre Dame CSS) netted a hat trick to lead Buffalo State to a lopsided 7-1 victory over visiting Plattsburgh in a SUNYAC contest tonight at the Ice Arena.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 7, Plattsburgh – 1
LOCATION: Ice Arena – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (5-3-1/2-2-1), Plattsburgh (4-5-0/2-4-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Nieminen led the Bengals with three goals, giving him a team-best eight for the season.
Reid Bibb (Gaithersburg, MD/Gaithersburg) added a goal and an assist.
Hugo Petit (Chelsea, QC/CIH Acad.), Ryan Stayner (Youngstown, NY/Nichols) and Mac Wood (Simcoe, ON/SCS) also scored for Buffalo State, while Michael Anthony Guerrera (Montreal, QC/OHA) chipped in three assists.
Buffalo State chased Plattsburgh’s starting goalie just over nine minutes into the game, netting a pair of goals only 21 seconds apart.
Nieminen got things going with an unassisted tally before Petit gave the Bengals a 2-0 lead.
Buffalo State blew the game open with four goals in the second period, including a pair by Nieminen, Stayner’s second of the season, and Bibb’s fifth on an unassisted, shorthanded effort.
Wood added a power-play marked early in the third period to round out the Bengals’ scoring.
Plattsburgh finally broke through with less than five minutes remaining while on a 5-on-3 power play.
Ian Sylves (Sloan, NY/JFK) turned aside 22 of 23 shots faced as the Bengals outshot the Cardinals, 31-23.
FOR THE FOES
Pat Egan scored Plattsburgh’s only goal on a back-door, one-timer.
NOTEWORTHY
Buffalo State’s NCAA Division III-best power play went 2 for 4 to improve to a 32.6 percent efficiency rate.
With three more assists tonight, Guerrera is tied for the lead in the nation for assists by a defenseman with 11 in 10 games.
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will host Potsdam for another SUNYAC game tomorrow at 7 p.m.
