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Conference defeat

No. 1 Oswego rallies past Blue Devils, 4-2

OBSERVER Photo by Roger Coda Fredonia’s Jacob Haynes (6) keeps the puck away from an Oswego player during Friday’s SUNYAC men’s college hockey game at Steele Hall.

Oswego, the top-ranked Division III men’s hockey team in both national polls, rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 4-2 SUNYAC win Friday over the Fredonia Blue Devils.

Shawn Hulshof and Kenny Neil scored in a span of 17 seconds in the final minute of the second period to erase Fredonia’s hard-earned 2-0 lead. The Lakers’ Matt Galati completed the comeback with two third-period goals.

Ryan Dunn and Todd Schauss scored for the Blue Devils, who dropped to 4-5-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the conference. The Lakers stayed unbeaten at 10-0-0 overall and 8-0-0 in SUNYAC play. They received 34 of 40 possible first-place votes combined in the USCHO.com and D3Hockey.com polls released earlier this week.

Dunn opened the scoring at 5:15 of the second period with a shot from the right wing following a shot off the backboards by Mac McAvoy, who skated up the left wing before shooting.

Schauss — who earned the No. 3 star for his solid play all night — made it 2-0 Fredonia when he tipped in a slapshot from the right point by Jamie Young. The momentum took a dramatic shift in the final minute of the second period when Hulshof tipped in a shot by Sean Federow and, 17 seconds later, Neil connected from the left circle.

Galati’s two goals in the third period were both back-handers in front of the net, the game-winner coming at the 8:52 mark and the insurance goal about five minutes later. The Lakers then took three consecutive penalties in the period, the first two resulting in a two-man advantage for Fredonia. The Blue Devils finished 0 for 6 on the power play.

Fredonia sophomore goaltender Eric Bogart made 29 saves. Matt Zawadzki had 27 stops in the Oswego net.

Both teams are back in action today at 7 p.m. Oswego visits Buffalo State while Fredonia closes out the first semester at home against Cortland. Prior to the game, the Blue Devils’ 2006-07 team will be recognized on the 10th anniversary of their SUNYAC championship.

Doors open at 6 p.m.

Women’s Basketball

Blue Devils sink Lakers

OSWEGO — The Fredonia women’s basketball team took to the road and defeated the Oswego Lakers, 75-64, Friday night.

Oswego (1-7, 0-3 SUNYAC) opened the game on an 11-5 run, but Fredonia remained in firing distance throughout the first quarter. Jumpers by Kathryn Halloran and Khee Nance (Dunkirk/Dunkirk) kept the Blue Devils within four just past the halfway mark in the quarter.

The Lakers extended their lead to seven until an Alexis Cheatham completed the rare four-point play with one second left to cut the Lakers’ lead down to three, 18-15.

The Blue Devils trailed in the second quarter until two Alicia Szumigala (Forestville/Forestville) free throws with 2:22 left, and layups by Jamie Curry and Jenna Einink (Westfield/Chautauqua Lake) put Fredonia up, 34-28.

The Devils took a 34-31 lead into halftime and did not trail the rest of the game.

Fredonia’s biggest lead of eight points in the third quarter came after two Einink free throws midway through the quarter. Two makes from the free-throw line by Courtney Amelee and a layup by Heather Hebert from Oswego cut Fredonia’s lead to four, 50-46, at the end of three quarters of play.

A Curry jumper at the 7:47 mark completed an 8-0 run and extended the Devil’s lead to 12 as they lead 58-46. From there, the closest the Lakers came was within seven points.

Einink, a sophomore, recorded her second straight double-double, scoring 18 points and snatching 10 rebounds. She shot 8 of 19 from the floor. Cheatham, a senior, also scored 18 points and dished out eight assists.

Szumigala, a junior, netted 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Curry finished with eight points and eight boards.

The Blue Devils improve to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the SUNYAC. They are back in action today at SUNY Cortland. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Men’s Basketball

Devils fall to Lakers

OSWEGO — The Fredonia men’s basketball team dropped a SUNYAC road game to the Oswego Lakers, 70-64, Friday evening.

The game was evenly matched throughout as there were a total of seven ties and 16 lead changes.

The score was even at 13-all midway through the first half until a Nicc Johnson steal and score led to a Blue Devils 5-0 run to make it 18-13. Oswego would take back the lead, 25-20, as it went on a 12-2 run of their own.

Two Ian Helps free throws and four free throws from Johnson gave the Blue Devils the lead again, 26-25.

The Blue Devils eventually trailed 32-30 at halftime.

Johnson netted eight points off the bench in the half. He also grabbed eight boards. He finished the night with 11 points.

The lead changed five times to open up the second half. The score was tied 39-39 with 15:06 left in the game until an 8-1 Laker run made it 47-40.

The Blue Devils rallied back and a Johnson 3-pointer with 8:53 to go put his team back up by one, 48-47. A Tyson Keith jumper 22 seconds later put Oswego back ahead 49-48 and they did not trail the rest of the game.

Oswego shot 22 of 48 (46 percent) from the floor compared to Fredonia’s 21 for 58 (36 percent). Oswego held a 37-36 advantage on the boards.

Helps, a junior, scored a team high 16 points and snagged six rebounds. Senior Kareem Brown and sophomore Brandon Hodge each scored 11 points. Hodge shot 2 of 5 from the floor and cashed in 6 of 8 from the charity stripe. He also had five rebounds.

Senior Richard De La Cruz contributed eight points on 3-of-8 shooting, two for five from downtown.

The Blue Devils fall to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the SUNYAC. They are back in action again today against SUNY Cortland. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Women’s Indoor Track & Field

Three winners at season-opening meet

HOUGHTON — The 2016-17 Fredonia women’s track and field season got underway Friday at the Houghton December Classic.

Fredonia had three first-place finishers. Kristen Guarino won the mile in 5:35.31. Anneliese Bienko had a winning toss of 11.83 meters in the shot put. Sarah Couperus cleared 1.60 meters to win the high jump.

In the first event of the season, sophomore Hannah Kurbs finished third in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:41.78. She finished behind two seniors, making her the first underclassman to cross the line, and was the first of five Blue Devils to finish.

Other strong opening-night performances came from Emily Maguire, second to Guarino in the mile; and the combination of Kristen Sawyer and Mikayla Capestrani in the pole vault. Sawyer tied for second after clearing 3.35 meters. Capestrani cleared the same height but had more misses and finished fourth.

Men’s Indoor Track & Field

Caparro leads Devils at Houghton meet

HOUGHTON — Fredonia’s Rocky Caparro won one event and was second in another at the Houghton December Classic, the first meet of the 2016-17 indoor track and field season.

Caparro won the triple jump in 13.98 meters, a new fieldhouse record, and was second in the high jump behind teammate Nick Serafin. Both men cleared 1.95 meters with Serafin doing so with fewer misses.

Fredonia had a third-place finisher Friday as Merlin Joseph Jr. took the 3,000-meter run in 9:04.72.

Other second-place performances came from Kyle Brown in the 35-pound weight throw at 15.87 meters; Jacob Valley (Fredonia/Lancaster) in the long jump at 6.55 meters; and Bobby Cooper in the 3,000 meters in 9:08.93.

Fredonians finishing third were Pat Shenal in the mile (4:36.24); Mitchel Paciga in the high jump (1.90 meters); and Ethan Francis (Dunkirk/Dunkirk) in the 3,000 meters (9:10.68).

The meet was held in Houghton’s Kerr-Pegula Fieldhouse.

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