One night after struggling to gain control of a game they were heavily favored to win, St. Bonaventure didn’t take long Saturday night to sink the hopes of Massachusetts Maritime pulling a major upset.

Mason Meggo scored the first of his two goals just 1:21 into the first period to assert the Bonnies’ game-long offensive dominance in a 6-2 win in the second round of pool play at the AAU College Hockey National Tournament in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

The victory sets up a showdown between the top-seeded Bonnies (20-1-2) and No. 14 Georgia (24-9-2) Sunday at 2:15 p.m. to see who advances from Pool A to the quarterfinals.

Both teams are unbeaten in pool play. Georgia defeated High Point, 7-0, early Saturday afternoon and beat Maritime, 9-2, Friday. SBU defeated High Point, 5-0, Friday night, scoring three goals in the third to break open the game.

The Bonnies and Bulldogs played to a 1-1 tie in October at the Olean Recreation Center.

Tyler Menz scored twice and Owen Hughes and Sam Cichowski added third-period goals for the Bonnies, who outshot Maritime, 63-23. The Bonnies had the first 16 shots of the game.

Kyle Karoleski made 21 saves for SBU.

The team in each of the eight pools with the most points — teams earn two points for a win and one for a tie — will advance to the quarterfinals on Monday after three days of round-robin pool play. Ties for first in the pools will be broken by head-to-head results, then by fewest goals allowed and then, if still tied, by goal differential.

Quarterfinals, semifinals and title/consolation games are scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The games can be livestreamed at Black Dog Hockey. Packages are available for four-hour increments ($9.99), all of pool play ($29.99), and the entire tournament ($49.99). Fans attending the tournament are encouraged to pre-order all-access passes here.

______________

About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. St. Bonaventure was named the #5 regional university value in the North in U.S. News and World Report’s 2022 college rankings edition.