Hockey Falls To Buffalo State, 7-5

The hockey team suffered a 7-5 setback against Buffalo State College in a non-conference contest on Saturday afternoon at Lynch Arena.

The Wildcats struck first with just under six minutes left in the first period when senior All-American Jeremiah Ketts (Foristell, Mo.) put in a pass from juniors Danny Kaufman (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and Jason Pietrasiak (Shrewsbury, Mass.) for the lone goal of the period for either team.  JWU took the 1-0 lead heading into the locker room after the first period of play

JWU extended their lead with a power play goal from junior defenseman Trevor Jewell (Muskegon, Mich) with assists to senior Domenic Recchia (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and Ketts just 2:03 into the second period. Ketts had his hand in the third Wildcat goal after a pass intended for Pietrasiak was deflected by a Bengals defenseman and Kaufman gathered the puck in stride and put it in the back of the net to give the Wildcats the 3-0 advantage. Buffalo State got on the board at the 9:49 mark in the second period when freshman Elijah Cohen (Peabody, Mass.) scored on a pass from classmate Nick Melligan (Sanborn, N.Y.). The Wildcats held the 3-1 advantage into the locker room after two periods.

Ketts struck quickly in the third with a goal put over replacement goalie Kevin Carr's (Unionville, Ontario) glove side just :20 seconds in. After a goal by the Bengals Mike Connolly (Shoreham, N.Y.) a little over nine minutes in, Ketts completed his hat trick with a short-handed goal that he created back in his own defensive end. Buffalo State responded with five unanswered goals including what proved to be the game-winner by senior Justin Knee (Centralia, Ontario) en route to the 7-5 victory.

With the setback, JWU falls to 9-4-2 overall while Buffalo State improves to 8-6-2. The Wildcats will be back in action on Wednesday, January 18^th when they host Western New England in an ECAC Northeast contest at Lynch Arena beginning at 7:45pm.