BROCKPORT, N.Y. – The Neumann University suffered a 6-4 loss at the hands of SUNY-Brockport on Saturday afternoon.
Special teams featured heavily in today's non-conference tilt as six of the game's 10 games were either power play or shorthanded goals. 12:23 into the game, it was SUNY Brockport who struck on the power play for a 1-0 lead. Just shy of three minutes later, a shorthanded goal snuck through to give the Golden Eagle a two-goal edge. Back on the man advantage at the 13:04 mark, the lead was extended to 3-0, drawing a timeout from the Knights. It seemed to be the trick as a
Billy Sheridan power play wrist shot from the point was deflected in by
Ryder Nienhuis for his first Neumann goal, getting them on the board with 4:20 left in the opening frame. 1:35 later,
Niko Tishkevich stole a puck in the slot, whirled and fired in his first of the year, pulling Neumann within one, closing a high-scoring first 20 minutes.
51 seconds into the middle period, while on the power play, Nienhuis deflected in a
Tyler Ray point shot for his second of the game, tying it at three. A slap shot from the circle with 11:45 left in the second ended the Knights' run and gave Brockport the lead once again. A 2-on-1 goal, just passed the midway point of the period doubled the Golden Eagle lead. Things were looking bleak for Neumann as they found themselves shorthanded again, but an outlet pass by
Yianni Koukouves connected to
Dustin Patterson, leading him to a beautiful backhanded breakaway goal, and a one-goal deficit to close to the period.
The game settled down in the third period before Brockport again took a two-goal lead late in regulation. With under five minutes to go, and Neumann pushing to claw back into the game, a point shot was deflected in by Nienhuis but it was ruled to have been touched by a high stick and that thwarted the comeback attempt.
Patterson led the Knights with five shots on goal. Nienhuis,
Charles Antrilli,
Kris Krumins, and Tishkevich followed with four shots each. Goaltenders
Christian Green and
Jimmy Gray combined for 15 saves.
Neumann (0-2) will get back to work as they prepare for their Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) opener on Tuesday night. They'll head to Pittston, Pa. for a match up with King's College, scheduled for a 7:00 PM start.
