CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland men’s hockey team scored the game’s final four goals to erase a 2-0 deficit and defeated nationally 13th-ranked Geneseo, 4-2, Friday night in SUNYAC action at Alumni Arena. The Red Dragons improved to 1-4-1 overall and in the conference, while the Knights fell to 4-3 and 3-3.
Senior Nick Zappia (Manlius/Kingston Voyageurs) scored a pair of goals to lead Cortland. Freshman Darren McCormick (West Seneca/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) recorded his first career goal and added two assists. Freshman Dan Broderick (White Plains/New York PAL Islanders) contributed one goal and one assist, juniors Brant Sherwood (Rochester/Drayton Valley Thunder), Mike Davie (Brooklyn/NY Apple Core) and Ryan Wagner (Buffalo/Aberdeen Wings) and freshman Drazen Zack (East Greenbush/Connecticut Oilers) each chipped in with an assist. Freshman goalie Drew Weigman (Annapolis, MD/Northern Cyclones) made 41 saves in posting his first career win.
Sophomores Trevor Hills (Honeoye Falls/St. Lawrence) and Jack Ceglarski (Byfield, MA/Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights) netted goals for Geneseo with sophomore Connor Anthoine (Lewiston, ME/Islanders Hockey Club) and freshman Jason Stephanik (Monroe/Sioux Falls Stampede) collecting one assist apiece. Junior goalie Nick Horrigan (Mount Forest, ON/Elmira Sugar Kings) stopped 26 shots.
Hills gave the Knights a 1-0 lead at 11 minutes, 44 seconds of the first period when he converted on a breakaway. Ceglarski made it a 2-0 game just 55 seconds into the second period, knocking in a loose puck right in front. Cortland quickly cut the lead to 2-1 on Broderick’s wrist shot from the left circle at 1:47. McCormick then tied the game at 13:35of the second period with a quick wrister from nearly the same spot on the ice.
Zappia netted the game-winner on the power play at 1:58 of the third period, getting a shot past Horrigan from the right side of the slot. In the closing minutes of the game, after a timeout by Geneseo, the Knights pulled Horrigan for an extra skater and the Red Dragons capitalized with an empty-net goal by Zappia after McCormick forced a turnover in the Knights’ defensive zone to seal the win.
