MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's hockey team defeated Cortland State, 3-2, in non-conference action on Saturday evening at the Max Ulin Rink. With the win the Colonels improved to 2-7-2 overall. The Red Dragons fell to 4-5-3 with the setback.
The Colonels took the lead late in the first period and extended it to 2-0 after scoring early to start the second. The Red Dragons cut the deficit down to one with six minutes remaining in the second frame to head into the final period with a score of 2-1.
Curry's junior Joe Scarfo (Winthrop, Mass.) netted his first goal of the season with 4:21 left to play in the first period. Freshman Zachary White (Milford, Conn.) sent a pass to freshman Hector Majul (Mexico City, Mexico) who was open on the right side of the crease. Majul looked to shoot but instead sent the puck to Scarfo who one-timed it past the glove of Cortland's sophomore netminder Kollyn Jones (Cazenovia/N.Y.). Junior goaltender Brett Sinclair (St. Catharines, Ontario) was solid between the pipes making 10 stops holding the Red Dragons scoreless.
Junior Adam Valadao (Ajax, Ontario) tallied his team's second to take a 2-0 lead just 1:25 into the second. The Colonels won the opening faceoff sending the puck into Cortland's defensive zone. Curry moved the puck smoothly with junior Tyler Vankleef (Dundas, Ontario) and freshman Mack Heisinger (Winnipeg, Manitoba) earning the assists. With the assist Heisinger and brother, junior Jake Heisinger (Winnipeg, Manitoba) lead the team with seven assists apiece. Mack also is number one in the conference for defenseman scoring. The Red Dragons got on the board at the 14:01 minute mark closing the gap bringing the score to 2-1. At 12:05 the Colonel's junior Sean Nelson (Brighton, Mich.) was called for a two minute holding penalty. With only four seconds left on Cortland's man-up advantage they scored. After making a save, Jones sent the puck up to the middle of the ice to stick of freshman Zach Felser (Sylvania, Ohio). Felser and junior Casie Garrison (Cortland/Pa.) had a 2v1 against a Curry defender ending with Garrison firing a shot over the shoulder of Sinclair. After 40 minutes of play, Cortland held a slight advantage in shots at 24-23.
The third period saw eight totally penalties called. The Red Dragons fought hard to net the equalizer early on but it was the Colonels who struck first again. Curry earned their game-winning goal off a power-play with only 4:53 off the clock. Senior Mike Davie (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was in the box for only 16 seconds on an elbowing call before senior Shane Harrington (Mansfield, Mass.) took a slap shot at the blue line past the pads of Jones. Harrington was helped by Jake Heisinger and sophomore Ryan Fitzgerald (Cary, N.C.). Cortland's final tally came at 11:18. After a few missed power-play opportunities, freshman Shane Bennett (Grand Island/N.Y.) fired one into the back of the net getting his team back to within one. Sophomores Dan Broderick (White Plains/N.Y.) and Darren McCormick (Buffalo/N.Y.) were credited with the assists. Despite being outshot 12-3, the Colonels held on for their second win of the season.
Curry went 1-4 on power plays while Cortland was 1-6. The Red Dragons finished with a game-high 36 shots and the Colonels 26 shots.
Sinclair made an impressive 34 saves in net for the Colonels. Jones had 23 stops in net for Cortland.
The two teams return to action tomorrow as they take on each other at 4:45 p.m. at the Max Ulin Rink.
