Reading, Pa. (Jan. 6, 2024) - Buffalo State University held off a third period push by Alvernia University to come away with a 4-3 win over the Golden Wolves in non-conference men's ice hockey action on Saturday night at Body Zone.

With the loss, Alvernia drops to 10-3 overall. The Bengals improve to 7-8.

How it Happened

• After both teams survived a 4v4 opportunity, Alvernia broke open the scoring just over seven minutes into the contest when Christian Dahl forced a turnover in the neutral zone and Logan vande Meerakker scooped it up and beat the goalie one on one to give Alvernia the 1-0 lead. 
• The Bengals evened it up at 1-1 with 37.8 seconds to play in the opening period with Connor Bizal getting it past Jackson Fellner off a loose puck opportunity in front of the net.
• Alvernia finished the first period with 15 shots on goal to Buffalo State's 11
• The Bengals broke the 1-1 tie four minutes into the second period and took the 2-1 lead after catching Alvernia on a line change and taking advantage of having numbers to bury one in the back of the net.
• Just over a minute later, Buffalo State made it a 3-1 game after sneaking the puck inside the right post from an off angle.
• The Golden Wolves had one power play opportunity in the second period, but, despite sending in five shots - three on net - and maintaining possession for most of the power-play, Alvernia could not convert.
• The Golden Wolves outshot the Bengals 29-20 overall and 17-13 on net in the second period.
• Alvernia got within one, 3-2, on a power-play goal from vande Meerakker off the deflection of an Isaac Chapman shot with 8:10 to play.
• The Bengals very quickly responded to go back up by two, 4-2, on a goal just 34 seconds later.
• The back-and-forth continued with Alvernia getting back within one, 4-3, as Eli Rivers scored off the assists of Jason Finan and Jordan Gagnon just 15 seconds later to mark the third goal in less than a minute of game play.
• Alvernia had seven more shots on goal in the final seven minutes of action, but could not convert to force overtime as the Bengals came away with the 4-3 win.

Inside the Box Score

• Vande Meerakker led Alvernia with two goals and six different players finished with an assist for the Golden Wolves.
• Hunter Alden led Alvernia's faceoff opportunities with 12 faceoff wins. Matthew Davies led Alvernia with three blocks.
• Jackson Fellner finished with 27 saves in net.
• Alvernia out-shot the Bengals 90-55 overall and 51-31 on goal.

Of Note

• Alvernia's 51 shots on goal marked a season-high for the Golden Wolves and their most in a game since putting 65 on net against Arcadia in January of 2022.
• Alvernia had a season-low two penalties for four total minutes. The Golden Wolves successfully killed off both penalties. 
• Alvernia has out-shot its opponent in four of its five losses this season.

Up Next

• Alvernia looks to even the series against the Bengals tomorrow afternoon at 4 PM at Body Zone.