“I think the biggest thing is the leadership and the veteran players on this team,” said Blue Devils’ head coach Jeff Meredith. “Those veterans have a lot of experience. The last time they played Oswego was in the playoffs and we won. For them, it was just something they’ve done before.”

Oswego State came into the contest undefeated on the season, but for the Blue Devils, they knew getting pucks deep and playing tough defense would go a long way.

In the first period, the Blue Devils and the Lakers went back and forth with puck possession. Oswego State got the first break of the game after an interference call left the Blue Devils shorthanded.

With some big saves by Blue Devils’ starting goaltender Eric Bogart and a big time blocked shot by Todd Schauss, Fredonia State killed the Laker power play.

OBSERVER Photos by Justin Goetz Fredonia’s Ethan Kerbis (18) sets up the play behind the Oswego net during Friday night’s game at Steele Hall in Fredonia.

Fredonia State went back to Bogart in net because he has been playing well enough to earn time on the ice. Friday was no different, as Bogart was a difference-maker all night for the Blue Devils.

“I think Bogey took his game to another level tonight,” said Meredith. “Every team that’s going to be a good hockey team has a goaltender that’s going to play the way Bogey did tonight. He played well.”

Later in the period, the Blue Devils got their own man advantage, but Oswego State killed it with ease, keeping the game scoreless.

After more back and forth throughout the period, Fredonia State was finally able to crack the scoreboard. Defenseman Brandon Spognardi let a shot from the point go with 55 seconds left in the period which found the top of the net to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 going into the intermission.

It didn’t take long for Fredonia State to get their next goal either, as Schauss took a pass from Jasper Korican-Barlay just 40 seconds into the second period and netted his third goal of the season.

The Blue Devils were playing tough when Oswego would get the man advantage, killing four penalties on the night, all with barely any chances allowed. One reason for that, was the Blue Devils’ shot blocking, which is something Coach Meredith said they had been working on.

“That’s the kind of sacrifice you need to win games like this,” said Meredith. “The beautiful thing about shot blocking is that it never appears on any stat sheet for the most part. So it’s just guys selling out for their boys. We worked on shot blocking this week, we worked on staying in the lanes. It was good to see us be able to do things that we worked on at practice.”

The Lakers would answer, however, as a shot from the point got past Bogart to bring the contest back to a one score game, with the Blue Devils leading 2-1.

As the third period got underway, an Oswego State penalty led to a game misconduct and a five minute powerplay for the Blue Devils. In the beginning stages of that powerplay, it backfired for Fredonia State, as the Lakers picked up a shorthanded goal on an odd-man rush to tie the game at 2-2.

However, another Laker penalty gave the Blue Devils a 5 on 3 advantage, which led to Kirbis’ goal and a massive celebration with his team on the ice.

“I don’t want to say the guys didn’t expect it, it was nothing like that, said Meredith. “It was more, the guys have been here before.”

The Blue Devils would kill off the remaining time on the clock, giving them a big SUNYAC victory, their third victory in a row.

The Blue Devils (4-1) will play Cortland (3-4) tonight in hopes to make it a clean sweep of the weekend on home ice.

“We’re going to need to have a short memory,” said Meredith. “We can’t take this win tonight past breakfast tomorrow. Otherwise, we’ll split the weekend and we wouldn’t have done diddly.”