UB’s Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) hockey team (5-1-2, 4-1-1 UNYCHL) celebrated senior night with a 5-0 win Friday night against Cortland AAU D-1 (6-10, 3-9 UNYCHL), but fell short in an overtime loss against the Canisius on Saturday.
This was the second meeting between UB and Cortland this season, with Buffalo winning the first matchup 5-2.
On Friday, Buffalo came out strong in the first period with three goals. During the first period, sophomore defenseman Dominic Derenda scored with 13 minutes on the clock, assisted by junior defenseman Quinn Griffin and graduate center Matthew McCulloch.
The Bulls kept the energy up with a hard fought goal from the right side of the net by junior center Tanner Douglass, assisted by Derenda and Griffin. Scoring one minute and one second later, sophomore defenseman Blake Belt scored, assisted by graduate student center Matt Tullo and senior defenseman Patrick Brady.
In the third period, junior center Ryan Peterson, who is tied for first on the team in points per game with three, scored on a power play goal, which was assisted by senior forward Anthony Coty, who is third in goals with six, and junior defenseman Brandon Licursi.
Goaltender sophomore Gavin Kreutzer played the whole 60 minutes and got a shutout for the Bulls against Cortland. The Bulls shared the wealth this game with Derenda, Griffin, and Tullo all having two-point games.
Post-game, seniors were joined by family and friends in celebration of their time on the team. Those players included Matthew Bielinski, Coty, Brady, Jack Gallagher, Nate Bailey, and John Shalamov.
The following day, the Bulls faced the Griffins at Northtowns Center. Being in separate leagues, Buffalo in AAU and Canisius in ACHA, ACHA being the higher ranked among the two, led the Bulls to feel more pressure coming into this game.
The first period the Bulls came out aggressive, similar to the start of the game the prior day. Junior forward Cole Belt scored on a breakaway followed by Peterson scoring a goal, he is ranked second in both goals (7) and points (11) on the team. The period ended 2-1 Buffalo. The second period had a goal by freshman left wing Alex Armstrong, marking his first collegiate hockey goal and bringing the score to 3-2 at the end of second period.
UB went goalless in the third period, forcing overtime. The game winning goal was scored by Canisius sophomore forward Liam Wicks, bringing the final score to 3-4.
The Bulls next game will be away against Brockport AAU on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 8:30 p.m.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
