Men split games over the weekend

Buffalo State endured a roller-coaster weekend, defeating Cortland 8-0 on Friday and falling to No. 2 Oswego on Saturday by a score of 5-3.

Although happy with their sizable win on Friday, the Bengals (4-3) lamented over the opportunity that the team missed on Saturday.

"It's tough trying to put together a good, hard team effort on back-to-back nights,"senior captain James Durham said. "Tonight there were shifts where we had it and shifts where we didn't have it. We need to be able to put it together and show people that we can play with anyone."

Head coach Nick Carriere said he believed that the team tried to play outside of its boundaries on Saturday night.

"I think our team played a very good, simple style (Friday night) and we gave ourselves a lot of chances to get scoring opportunities,"Carriere said. "We executed on the power play and we really stuck to our system. (Saturday), we got away from the simplicity of our game."

The Bengals started their game against Cortland with a bang. Goals by junior forward Trevor McKinney and sophomore forwards Steve Wicklum and Dave Lansdowne helped Buffalo State establish a commanding 3-0 lead in the first period that the team wouldn't relinquish.

After a penalty-filled second period, the team put Cortland away for good in the third. McKinney and Lansdowne scored their second goals of the contest while Durham added two scores and sophomore forward Taylor McGraw notched his first of the season.

Sophomore defenseman John Corrigan and freshman forward Nick Melligan paced the Bengals with two assists apiece, while sophomore goaltender Kevin Carr picked up his first shutout of the year by making 28 saves.

The team's game against Oswego proved to be much closer than the tilt the night before against Cortland. Oswego scored the opening goal just 3:59 into the first period, but Melligan netted the first goal of his collegiate career on the power play to tie the game.

A goal with the man-advantage gave Oswego a 2-1 lead in the second period, but senior forward Justin Knee responded with his third score of the season.

After a power play goal by Knee gave the Bengals a 3-2 lead 1:34 into the third period, the team began to falter. Two goals by Oswego within a 31-second span put the Lakers in front, and an empty-net goal with ten seconds remaining sealed the win for the Lakers.

The Bengals felt that mental lapses and angst were to blame for the blown third period lead against Oswego.

"Oswego's a skilled team that will find opportunities, and we had a bit of lapse on the third period and left some guys open in the slot,"Knee said. "You can't give them chances, if you do they're going to score on them."

Durham agreed.

"I think our guys had some heavy legs, guys were holding their sticks a little bit tighter, and we played a little nervous while holding the lead,"Durham said. "Our guys didn't want to screw up, and we should have played a little looser."

The Bengals'next opponent, St. Thomas (Minn.), will be the Bengals'preliminary adversary in the Adrian College Tournament in Adrian, Minn. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.

"It's going to be different because we don't know anything about them,"Durham said. "Usually we have scouting reports on the teams we play, but when we play out of conference you never know what to expect.

"They're little factors but it's still hockey,"he continued. "You just go out and play, and it's a great opportunity for us to show our skill and maybe come home with a win."

Carriere saw the tournament as not just an opportunity to win a few games, but as a way to see what kind of team he has and to promote Buffalo State.

"It's a great opportunity for our team to get on the road and to get our first overnight trip of the season,"Carriere said. "It'll be a great test for us and it's a chance to make a good name for SUNYAC hockey and Buffalo State College."

Tony Fiorello can be reached at fiorello.record@live.com.