Pittsburgh, PA – On Friday, Chatham Men's Hockey (15-3-0, 6-3-0) hosted (#13/#13) SUNY Geneseo (12-6-1, 8-3-0) in a pivotal UCHC match-up. The Cougars dropped the close game 3-2, ending their seven-game win streak.
In the first period, the Cougars drew first blood, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead. Nick Cyprian fired his 13th goal of the season past the Knights' goaltender with assists going to Tyler Samodral and Breyden Zupsansky at 10:03. Building off this momentum, the Cougars would double their lead three and a half minutes later. Ian Norkevicus, continuing his strong rookie campaign, scored his 5th goal of the season, from Zupansky and Camden Smith. The Cougars would head into the intermission up 2-0, after goaltender Cameron Kuntar stopped all 10 shots he faced.
The Knights would answer back, making it 2-1 at the 18:06 mark of the 2nd period. The Cougars appeared to have regained the two-goal lead after Michael Roby banged one home, but after a lengthy review, the goal was called back. The back-and-forth period set the stage for the deciding third period.
Early in the third, the Knights would tie the game 2-2. The teams then traded rush chances with both goaltenders standing tall. At the 14:18 mark of the frame, after a scrum in front of the net, the Knights scored again, making it 3-2. After another lengthy review, the goal would stand, changing the outlook of the neck and neck game. The Cougars pulled their goaltender with one and a half minutes left, but could not find the equalizer. The three answered Knights' goals proved to be the difference.
Leading the way offensively for the Cougars was Breyden Zupsansky, recording two assists, the first multi-point game of his career. Defensively, Bekk McClaine & Andrew Martino lead the team with 2 blocks apiece. Cameron Kuntar ended the game making 41 saves and recording a .932 save percentage.
Men's Hockey will be back in action tomorrow, Saturday, January 31st, for game two against (#13/#13) SUNY Geneseo. The Faceoff Against Cancer Game, in partnership with the Lichterman Foundation, is scheduled to start at 1pm.
