The slow rollout of the 2022-23 season in Upstate New York Collegiate Hockey League is over this weekend as the calendar prepares for its turn to October. 21 games involving UNYCHL teams are on the schedule Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with some premium matchups.
The defending champion of College Hockey South, University of Georgia, visits Western New York to meet a trio of UNY schools:
Friday: 7pm at Buffalo State (Buffalo State Ice Arena) ***
Saturday: 7pm at St. Bonaventure (William O. Smith Center, Olean)
Sunday: 2pm at Niagara (Dwyer Arena) ***
*** Nickel City Hockey Network Broadcast
“We are looking forward to the trip,” says Georgia Head Coach John Camp. “All three teams we will be facing are well-coached and finished in the top ten CHF rankings last season. You have to play the best to be the best.”
Georgia comes north after a 2-2 start to their season. Both wins came against Middle Tennessee State, while the Bulldogs dropped games to Tennessee and South Carolina.
Camp says these games will test his group: “We have a young team and just starting to get our first-year players integrated into our systems. It will be a great challenge for us.”
Buffalo State (1-1) looks to rebound from a home loss to University at Buffalo, 5-1 last weekend. Friday is Military Appreciation Night and the Bengals will have special uniforms commemorating the event. Buff State faces UB again on Saturday.
Georgia will be in Olean Saturday as St. Bonaventure opens their home schedule and celebrates their 2022 UNYCHL title. The Bonnies boast a stacked Freshman class that looks to replace those that graduated from last year’s championship team. The league’s deepest team last year looks even deeper with this year’s version. The Bonnies open at Rochester on Friday.
If Georgia’s weekend is a daunting challenge, the only more daunting slate is the three games Niagara has scheduled to kick off their season. The Purple Eagles meeting with Georgia Sunday wraps up three games in three days as well. On Friday, it’s NU and Niagara County Community College in what promises to be a battle of two rapidly-rising programs. The Purple Eagles then go on the road Saturday to meet the CHF National Runner-up Binghamton University before returning home for Georgia.
Meanwhile, fresh off an 8-2 win at Brockport last week, Cortland travels east to take on some Empire Conference competition: Friday at Fairfield, then Saturday at Farmingdale. Like last season when Cortland’s first games were at the showcase against the downstate league, the Red Dragons again test themselves early this season against well-regarded CHF competition. It seemed to work for Cortland’s first year in the UNYCHL, as they made it the semifinals of the league playoffs and made an appearance at Nationals.
Other UNYCHL Games to Watch:
St John Fisher at Brockport, Friday 7pm
Allegheny at Gannon, Saturday 1pm
Colgate at Cornell, Saturday 4pm
Alfred St at NCCC, Saturday 7pm
Union at Albany, Saturday 730pm
Buffalo at Fredonia, Sunday 430p
Full Schedule: https://www.chfhockey.net/page/show/6525273-unychl-standings-and-results
