PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – SUNY Geneseo sophomore forward Tyson Empey was credited with two goals and three assists to lead the No. 8 Knights to a 7-4 victory at Plattsburgh in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) men's ice hockey action, Saturday. 

The victory clinched Geneseo (13-4-3, 8-2-3 SUNYAC) a SUNYAC postseason berth for the eighth-consecutive season. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Geneseo got things going at the eight-minute mark of the first period after Empey skated down the left wing and flipped a puck to the front of the net. Sophomore forward David Szmyd scored off a short pass from junior forward Anthony Marra inside the right post to open the scoring. 
• The teams were scoreless until the Knights tallied a pair of goals in a minute span to build a 3-0 second-period lead. Junior defenseman Mitch Ferguson started with a power-play tally on a shot from the top of the right face-off circle at 8:41 before Szmyd took a pass from behind the Cardinal goal and scored from close range inside the right post at 7:41. 
• Plattsburgh finished an odd-man rush with 4:17 on the clock as Geneseo closed the second with a 3-1 lead. 
• Empey notched his first tally on a blast from the high slot 1:16 into the third to make it a 4-1 lead for the visitors. 
• Five minutes later, senior forward Sotiri Athanasopoulos tipped a long shot by senior defenseman Pat Condon into the Plattsburgh net for the 5-1 lead with 13:37 on the clock. However, the Cardinals quickly answered after playing the ensuing face-off forward and scoring only six seconds later. 
• Empey pushed the Geneseo lead back to four after re-directing a shot on the crease by first-year forward Kyle Hartman into the Plattsburgh net at 7:51. 
• After responding with a goal a minute later, Plattsburgh pulled their goalie for an extra skater. However, junior defenseman Duggie Lagrone was credited with an empty-net tally after the Cardinals played a puck into the neutral zone following a face-off in the Geneseo end that slid all the way down into the Cardinal net at 4:02. 
• The Cardinals found the net one more time with 2:36 remaining for the final tally of the evening. 

QUICK FACTS 

• Junior goalie Devin McDonald was credited with 32 saves to improve to 12-2-3 this season and become only the fifth goalie in program history to reach 40-career wins (40-10-11). He also tied Derek Jokic '08 for fourth on the Knights career victories list. 
• Coupled with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Cardinals (Nov. 11) earlier this season, Geneseo completed the regular-season sweep versus Plattsburgh for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign. 

WHAT'S NEXT 
Geneseo returns home to play four of its final five games at Wilson Ice Arena, starting with a pair of non-league contests versus Canton next Friday and Saturday (Feb. 2-3). Both contests are slated to face-off at 7:00 p.m.