The Buffalo State men’s hockey team is set to kick off its schedule at 7 p.m. on Friday, playing
host to Penn State University.
Not only is this the season opener for Buffalo State, but it will also be the first time the Bengals
will face the Nittany Lions, a team that is just beginning its inaugural season as a Division I
squad.
“We’ve never had an opponent like this,” head coach Nick Carriere said. “It’s huge for Buffalo
State hockey. We’re going to be raring to go for Penn State.”
Coming off of a 4-3 triple overtime loss in the SUNYAC semifinals in February, the Bengals are
looking to start their season off with a win, something they haven’t done in over five years.
“I think right now our team mentality is we have to work harder than last year, in the gym and
on the ice, to be game-ready come our opener against Penn State,” junior forward Mac Balson
said. “We have to focus on one game at a time but at the same time that loss is still in the back of
our minds and it motivates us each and every day.”
Carriere said that his team would be prepared and ready to go and that the atmosphere in the
building should be loud.
If the Bengals want to improve on last season, the team will have to do a better job against non-
conference opponents.
“One thing that we’ve struggled with is our non-conference schedule,” Carriere said. “My job is
to make sure our team is prepared for each and every game we have.”
Friday will mark the first of two meetings against Penn State this season. The other will be at
7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3 at University Park, Penn.
When asked what to expect from Buffalo State this Friday, Penn State head coach Guy
Gadowsky responded by saying, “Honestly, I have no idea. We’re looking forward to it, but we
are mainly focused on ourselves right now.”
Penn State has already played twice this season, splitting a pair of games against American
International.
In their first NCAA game on Friday, the Nittany Lions fell 3-2 in overtime, but bounced back the
next night to win 4-3, also in overtime.
“What a tremendous way to start,” Gadowsky said. “The atmosphere was great. It was very loud
and it was nice to see the Penn State colors flying.”
The Bengals will host a Division I team that has attracted much attention, and has had a large
amount of fans show up.
With a 1-1 record, Penn State will make play its first official road game.
“We had about 5,000 fans for a game we played two hours away from our arena,” Gadowsky
said. “We’ll see how far the Penn State fans go this Friday.”
Kevin Freiheit can be reached by email at freiheit.record@live.com.