Syracuse Ready to Faceoff Against Buffalo in Home-and-Home Matchup

By Zoe Jurmann

Syracuse, NY– This weekend the Syracuse Orange (2-5-1) are set to take on the University At Buffalo Bulls (2-2-0) in their first home-and-home series of the season. Saturday’s afternoon game is Greek Life Day at Tennity, as they invite all Syracuse Greek Life chapters to the afternoon’s matchup. The chapter with the highest attendance will receive a donation to the philanthropy of their choice.

According to sophomore Max Gargurevich, Greek Life Day will be a huge game for the team, and they’re excited to see the Greek community come together to support them.

“The guys are really excited for Greek Night. We love playing home games at Tennity so the idea of playing a home game at Tennity with a crowd like we have never seen is something we are all looking forward to” said the forward.

This weekend the Orange are looking to bring the momentum from last Saturday’s redemption game against Delaware. Coach Chris Timmons believes that the team needs to bring their must win mentality into this weekend’s matchup.

“I think the major difference was the mentality from our guys. We had a good amount of time on Saturday to talk as a group and make adjustments along with what it is going to take to win games in this league and we were able to execute it each period on Saturday for a full 60 minute effort,” said the head coach. “ I think the group played with more confidence and battled through the adversity, especially with being hit early with penalties. The way we ended the road trip in Delaware I think solidified the way we need to play in order to be successful and we just need to stay accountable to those winning ways to continue it.”

Gargurevich believes that while the team can feel proud of last weekend’s win, they cannot get complacent and need to play this weekend like it's a completely different game.

“I think it’s going to be important to not let our good performance get to us, last time we really had a performance we took pride in was Stony Brook and we came back against Drexel and got swept which can’t happen. I think our mindset just needs to be to keep doing what we did and understand that it won’t be given to us and that we have to take it,” explained Gargurevich.

Buffalo, who has only played four games for the ACHA this season, is known for their physical game. The Orange must be tough in the defensive zone and play and full 60 minutes of skilled physical play in order to keep up.

This weekend will be a tough weekend for the Orange. They must prove that they can win consistently and won’t let big wins stop them from trying in the next game. It is vital that the Orange keep their legs under them and battle hard this weekend in their ACHA matchup.

You can catch the Orange as they take on the Bulls in Buffalo this Friday at 7:30, and Saturday back at the Tennity Ice Pavilion for Greek Life Day at 2 pm. As always, Saturday’s home game can be found on the Syracuse Hockey Youtube channel or on the Syracuse Men’s Hockey website.

Contact me

Email: zjurmann@syr.edu

Twitter: @Zoejurmann