Buffalo defeats Niagara 4-2, & IUP 5-1

By: Melissa Brawdy of icingthefed.com 

10/28 Recap – NU @ UB

They've had the day circled on their calendars from the beginning of the season. The Bulls knew that Friday's game against rival Niagara University would be a big one.

"We all circled the day on the calendar for this night right here," Captain Eric Szczecinski said. "The boys really came to play. We focus hard the whole week in practice. We practice really hard Tuesday, Wednesday, and actually Thursday too, and we just really prepare for this game, and it ended up paying off."

Eric Szczecinski scored first, and again later in the game, and Brad Tardif scored twice as well en route to a 4-2 UB win. Eric Paradowski joined their line on the wing and added two assists as the new line mates found an uncanny chemistry with each other that Szczecinski could only describe as "awesome."

"It was awesome," Szczecinski said. "It was absolutely awesome. We were just clicking together, we were hot, everybody just knew where everybody was on the ice, and it just worked out. I mean, literally, you would just look over your shoulder, your guy was there supporting, or you just toss it in front of the net, your guy would just help you out, and then you'd be all set."

"Me and Sizz, just something that was thrown together last week," Tardif explained. "My first week playing with him, and we were just working real well down in the corners. He'd cycle to me, I'd cycle to him down low. Their D were pinching on us low, so it was leaving the guy in the slot wide open, and it was just working. We were just finding each other, just throwing it to each other, so chemistry was definitely there tonight."

"We've been running three lines, trying to set a tone before going to our four-line rotation," Coach Jeremy Kersten said. "You got the Leddy (captain Ryall Ledyard) line who stays together, AJ's (Marinelli) line, and then you got to throw a wing on there. 'Dowski's not comfortable playing wing, but he'll do pretty much anything we ask him. And it just works."

Szczecinski's first goal came from Paradowski and Tardif 5:12 into the first period and gave the Bulls an early lead. Niagara tied the game at one just before the halfway mark of the first period with a shorthanded goal, but Tardif took the lead back less than two minutes into the second on a goal from Szczecinski and Paradowski. Just over two minutes later, Szczecinski scored again, with Tardif picking up the assist. And then it was UB's turn to score shorthanded as Tardif scored unassisted 11:18 into the second. Tardif described the goal. 

"The defenseman had it on the boards, and I knew he was going to go D to D because that was their only play, so I just got my stick in the passing lane," Tardif said. "And lo and behold, it went D to D, and I just tipped it forward, and I just got on my horse and just skated as fast as I could and just got a little separation. And then I realized I had a breakaway, and I was like, 'Okay, I going to bear down,' so I took a look at the goalie, and he's kind hugging his right post. So I took one look and I saw the whole top left was open, so I just took a quick little shot and got it by him, so it was good. It felt good. I was pretty excited."

Tardif's hard work on his two goals earned him the hard hat after the game. "The player who got it last game gets the right to say who they think is the player of the game," Tardif explained. "And it was Captain Ryall Ledyard who got it last game, and he just said I had a good game. I had a slow start first period, and then I came out in the second and played alright."

A Niagara goal in the third was too little, too late as the Bulls came away with a win and finished strong. "It's always a great effort in these games," Kersten said. "As much as we hate each other on the ice, we do respect each other on and off the ice. It's always a hard fought game no matter what the final score is ... We talked this week about playing within ourselves and keeping our emotions -- not letting the rivalry get to us, like, 'Oh no, we need to beat them' -- just play hockey. Play 60 minutes and we'll be fine. And for the most part, we played 60 minutes today."

It was Tardif's first time defeating the Purple Eagles. He's a senior playing in his third season on the team, and although UB defeated Niagara his sophomore year, Tardif didn't play that game. "We beat 'em my first year on the team when I was a sophomore, but I was a scratch that game, so I've never personally beat 'em myself, so it was definitely a big win," Tardif said. "We dislike them, they dislike us; it's definitely the Buffalo rivalry. So it always feels good to beat them, especially since I've played them seven or eight times in my career and never won, so it feels really good."

10/29 Recap – IUP @ UB

"Everyone plays a role, everyone has more fun"

In Friday's 4-2 win over Niagara University, Eric Paradowski played a selfless role as a winger on a line with Eric Szczecinski and Brad Tardif. Paradowski picked up two assists as his line mates scored two goals each. On Saturday, it was Paradowski's turn to score a couple as UB defeated Indiana University of Pennsylvania 5-1. Paradowski gave the Bulls a 2-0 lead in the first period, with his first goal just 55 seconds into the game and his second about 11 minutes later. 

"We just came into the game wanting to get pucks on net, and I just took a nice slap shot entering the zone, got a lucky bounce," Paradowski explained. "Not a very great goal, but it works. And then the second one was a good drop pass back from my line mate, and I just shot it short side high, and good goal."

Bobby Piotrowicz, Szczecinski, and freshman Jared Cummins each added a goal in the second -- it was Cummins' first collegiate goal -- and freshman goalie Morgan von Hedemann didn't allow a goal until the third period as he made 19 saves in his second start. 

Von Hedemann was informed that he'd be in the net about an hour before they had to be at the rink for a 5:30 game. "Jer [coach Jeremy Kersten] texted me a good hour before we had to be at the rink letting me know that I had the start tonight, so I didn't have too much time to prepare, but I made it work tonight," von Hedemann said. "I was sitting at lunch with a couple of my buddies, and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face, knowing I was going to start tonight."

He fought through some early nerves, but his game plan was solid. "I just kind of take it shot by shot," von Hedemann said. "Everything kind of blends together. The nerves are still getting to me early couple games. Just feels great to be out there. Every save is just great to make." And earning the win after suffering a shootout loss in his first start felt even better.  

"It felt great to get the win tonight," von Hedemann said with a smile. "Boys really rallied around me tonight and gave me a lot of support, so I couldn't have done it without them."

The goalie wasn't the only player to step up on Saturday night. Friday night's win was costly, and Wesley Austin and Captain Ryall Ledyard, both offensive contributors this season, were both out Saturday night. Cummins and Andrew Murchison saw more ice time as a result, and for Cummins, it paid off. 

"We were missing two of our better players, Wes and Leddy out there," Cummins said. "So it was great that we had me and Murch step up, who don't get a regular shift all the time -- we were able to step up and fill those roles to the best of our ability."

Cummins scored his first collegiate goal 6:20 into the second period to give the Bulls a 5-0 lead. AJ Marinelli and Cole Schiffman picked up the assists. "I was playing with AJ Marinelli, my roommate actually this year, and he was able to feed me a great pass, going down on the 2-on-1," Cummins explained. "Goalie was hugging the post, I saw a little opening above his shoulder, and I just put it there, placed it right over his shoulder."

At first, Cummins wasn't sure if he'd actually scored. Once he knew, he celebrated. "I kind of just shot it, hoping it would go there, and when it did, I was just shocked, and then I realized, 'Holy cow, my first goal,'" Cummins said. "So then I was going nuts. It was a great feeling. [My teammates] always give me a hard time -- 'Cummins hasn't scored yet' -- so now I have something to come back with, now that I finally got that first one. It's big."

"It's good to see -- it's about time for Jared," Paradowski joked. "He's been gripping the stick a little too tight, but he finally got it, and that's important. Everyone's having a good time, everyone plays a role, everyone has more fun, and so that's what it's all about."

As Paradowski said, Saturday's game was fun all around. "It was fun," he said. "It was a fun game. Everyone was getting along on the bench. Good atmosphere, and we were moving the puck well. Our legs weren't really there, but we're just rolling. We're on a good win streak here, and we're trying to keep it going as long as we can."

"The win was big," said Cummins. "We're starting to piece together a few wins here in a row, and if we can keep this rolling, we'll be in good shape."

In order to keep it rolling, Paradowski hopes that the team will take a few things from Saturday's win as well as from some of those early season losses. "Keep it simple," he said. "When we lost those early games, we beat ourselves, so we're starting to click, come together, and we're a tough team to play, so if we could keep doing that, I think we'll keep winning."