FREDONIA, N.Y. — Fredonia head coach Jeff Meredith earned career win No. 400 as the Blue Devils rolled over Plattsburgh, 7-4, in SUNYAC men’s hockey at Steele Hall.
Jimmy Morgan (Highlands Ranch, Col.), Bobby Polachek (Kingston, Pa.), and Tyler Riter (Orchard Park, N.Y.) had two goals each to lead the Blue Devils to their best scoring output of the season. Sam Wilbur (Saginaw, Mich.) had the other Fredonia goal. Riter’s second goal of the game — and fifth of the season in just six games — at 11:01 of the third period proved to be the game-winner.
Morgan was plus-three on the night and earned the No. 1 star, Plattsburgh’s Rich McCartney earned the No. 2 after scoring three goals, and Polachek was the No. 3 star.
Anton Rosen (Orsa, Sweden) had 21 saves to improve to 3-0 this season. Lawton Fenton had 44 stops for the Cardinals.
Fredonia improved to 5-5-1 overall and 3-3-0 in the SUNYAC while Plattsburgh fell to 4-6-0 in all games and 2-5-0 in the conference.
The Blue Devils, who fell 4-2 Friday to Potsdam, started slowly Saturday before taking command with two quick goals in a span of 42 seconds early in the second period. After scoring his team’s first short-handed goal of the season at 19:01 of the first period. Polachek evened the score at 2-2 just 29 seconds into the second period when he scored off a rebound after a teammate’s shot was blocked. Wilbur put Fredonia up 3-2 at 1:11 when he skated across the crease and put a back-hander past Fenton.
The teams traded goals later in the period before Riter put the Blue Devils ahead to stay at 11:01 of the third. The play began as Todd Schauss (Terryville, Conn.) carried the puck into the zone with speed. His shot was blocked and Mike Freeman (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) collected the loose puck at the right point. His shot from there was tipped in by Riter, who was stationed in front of the Plattsburgh net.
Fredonia had a 51-25 shot advantage, including their second short-handed goal of the nigh when Morgan scored into a empty net at 18:34 of the third.
Meredith’s 400th win comes in his 30th season behind the Fredonia bench. He entered the season 45th on the all-time NCAA wins list. In addition, records indicate that he was 17th among active coaches.
