KSC Men’s Ice Hockey fell short 4-2 against Buffalo State University for a second consecutive loss, marking their 10th of the season on Friday, Jan. 24.
The Buffalo Bengals applied pressure early on in the game as they began play at the Buffalo Riverworks rink. The team fired off eight shots within the first eight minutes of the first period with the rally culminating into a goal just before the seven-and-a-half-minute mark.
The Owls saw their first shot of the game around the 10-minute mark and quickly followed up with a second shot at the 11-and-a-half-minute mark, but to no avail. BSU went back on the offensive with 11 shots over five minutes while the Owls managed only one.
Despite shots remaining few and far between for the Owls, KSC managed to tie things up at 1-1 following a goal from first-year forward Chase Carney.
Going into the second period tied, both times had the opportunity to pull ahead but failed to score after several chances at the net.
Both teams rattled off 12 shots each, but the Owls’ first-year goalkeeper Ben Skelton saved 10 of the 12 shots from the Bengals, fending off the team’s bid for the lead early on.
The third period proved eventful with BSU launching 11 shots within five minutes before the team’s forward Vadim Kiriakov committed a hooking penalty, allowing an opening for the Owls to potentially gain their first lead of the game.
However, after three unsuccessful shots, the power play ended and the Bengals struck two minutes later, netting their 2nd goal of the game.
Now 2-1 Bengals, the Owls saw another opportunity as a BSU player committed a tripping penalty and this time KSC capitalized.
First-year forward Luke Festa scored just as the power play came to a close, evening things up 2-2.
In the six minutes following the tying goal, both teams contended with each other across 12 faceoffs. Ultimately, the Bengals bested the Owls following the back-and-forth, regaining the lead 3-2.
With less than three minutes remaining, KSC pulled their goalkeeper out of play in a comeback bid; however, this backfired when BSU scored a fourth and final goal on the empty net just 27 seconds before the game’s end.
When all was said and done, the Owls fell 4-2 in a game that was largely up for grabs until the latter half of the last period.
KSC will now hope to turn things around as they come back home to Keene ICE to play against Franklin Pierce University on Saturday, Feb. 1.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
