BUFFALO, NY— Mike DeLaVergne (Pawling, NY/Pawling) made 29 saves to backstop Buffalo State (9-11-2/5-6-2) to a 3-1 victory over visiting Fredonia (4-13-5/0-10-3) in a critical SUNYAC matchup tonight at the Ice Arena.
Brett Hope (Blenheim, ON/Blenheim) had a hand in all three Bengals’ goals, scoring the first and assisting next two, and Ryan Salkeld (Virginia Beach, VA/Churchland) scored twice, including a late empty-netter.
Hope opened the scoring with his seventh of the season connecting on a one-time pass from Jason Zaleski (Scranton, PA/Scranton) who forced a turnover in the offensive zone. The Bengals pushed the lead to 2-0 early in the second period when Hope won a faceoff and Salkeld immediately fired it into the bottom corner.
Fredonia cut the lead in half when Jared Wynia collected a puck off a ricochet and beat DeLaVergne with 1:03 remaining in the middle frame.
The Blue Devils spent large chunks of time in the attacking zone in the third period, but could not net the equalizer, and Salkeld put the game out of reach with his 11th of the season into the empty net with just 30 seconds remaining.
Fredonia finished with a 29-25 advantage in shots, but could only beat DeLaVergne once. The Bengals finished 0 for 3 on the power play, and Fredonia was 0 for 5.
With the victory, the Bengals earn a point in the season long all-sports “Battle by the Lake” competition between Buffalo State and Fredonia. For more information, visit www.buffalostateathletics.com/battle .
The same two teams will meet again tomorrow in Fredonia at 7 p.m.
