CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Buffalo St. men's hockey team opened up a 3-0 lead after two periods and held off a late Cortland rally to secure a 3-2 victory in the first round of the SUNYAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Wednesday night at Alumni Arena. The Bengals improved to 14-12 and advanced to face top-seeded Oswego in the semifinals on Saturday. The Red Dragons' season ended at 16-9-1.

Sophomore Anthony Bernardo (Hauppauge/P.A.L. Junior Islanders) and freshman Colby Seitz (Eden/Corpus Christi IceRays) scored Cortland's goals. Junior John Kuhl (Essex Fells, NJ/Boston Jr. Rangers) and sophomore Johnny Facchini (Succasunna, NJ/P.A.L. Junior Islanders) each collected an assist. Senior goalie Luca Durante (Brampton, ON/Aurora Tigers) made 12 saves.

Junior Nikita Kozyrev (Tallinn, Estonia/Springfield Jr. Blues), sophomore Jared Figueroa (Scotch Plains, NJ/Florida Eels) and freshman Aidan LaValley (Champlain/Vermont Lumberjacks) netted goals for Buffalo St. Sophomore Joe Glamos (Baldwinsville/New Jersey Titans) recorded two assists, while juniors Parker Allison (Dallas, TX/Neepawa Natives) and Tyler Vanuden (Fort Frances, ON/Finlandia University) each picked up an assist. Junior goalie Emil Norrman (Kungsbacka, Sweden/Dells Ducks) turned aside 39 shots.

LaValley gave the Bengals a 1-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game, scoring from the slot after Allison's shot from the point caromed off the end boards and back in front. Figueroa made it a 2-0 game at 16:10 of the opening period when he picked up the puck at center ice and converted a breakaway with a shot over Durante's glove.

Kozyrev put Buffalo St. ahead, 3-0, scoring on a one-time shot on the right side 30 seconds into the second period on the power play. Seitz started the Cortland rally when he took a pass from Facchini in Cortland's defensive zone, made a rink-length rush, split two Bengal defenders and beat Norrman for his ninth goal of the season at the 12:02 mark. Bernardo made it a one-goal game at 15:48, scoring on a rebound after an initial shot by Kuhl was saved.

The Red Dragons pulled Durante for an extra skater with 2:03 remaining and pressured the Bengals but could not score the equalizer as Buffalo St. sealed the 3-2 victory.
 
Buffalo St. 3, Cortland 2

Score by periods:
Buffalo St.       2-1-0       3
Cortland          0-0-2       2

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists) 
Buffalo St.: Aidan LaValley 1-0, Jared Figueroa 1-0, Nikita Kozyrev 1-0, Joe Glamos 0-2, Parker Allison 0-1, Tyler Vanuden 0-1  
Cortland: Colby Seitz 1-0, Anthony Bernardo 1-0, Johnny Facchini 0-1, John Kuhl 0-1

Saves: Emil Norrman (Buffalo St.) 39 saves (2 GA in 60:00), Luca Durante (Cortland) 12 saves (3 GA in 57:55), Empty Net 2:05

Shots on Goal: Cortland 41 (14-7-20), Buffalo St. 15 (4-6-5)
Penalties: Buffalo St. 4-8:00, Cortland 3-6:00
Power Play: Cortland 0-2, Buffalo St. 1-1

Records after game: Buffalo St. 14-12, Cortland (Red Dragons) 16-9-1