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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Oh what a night! Junior defenseman Reed Smith scored the game-winning goal with 1:26 left in overtime Thursday to lift Nazareth to a 3-2 victory over visiting Geneseo in the Golden Flyers' first-ever men's hockey game at the Sports Centre at MCC.

The power play goal came in front of a frenzied crowd of nearly 2,000 at the Sports Centre and came off an assist from sophomore Julius Tamasy, who took the overtime faceoff. The game was the first of the season for both teams.

"Geneseo was probably a little bit ahead of us in terms of execution," said Nazareth Coach George Roll, "so we knew we would have to do the little things in order to compete. We showed that hard work and commitment can go a long way."

Nazareth won despite a lopsided 52-23 disadvantage in shots, but freshman goalie Ed Zdolshek was brilliant between the pipes for the Golden Flyers in making 50 saves and being named the game's first star. Junior defenseman Jordan Ciccarello was named the second star after scoring the Golden Flyers' first two goals. He scored Nazareth's first goal ever at 9:51 of the first period after picking up a loose puck near center ice, stickhandling past two defenders and delivering an unassisted tally.

Geneseo tied the score with just :01 left in the opening period as Corbin Rosmarin scored off a rebound of a shot by Justin Scharfe.

After a scoreless second period that included 21 saves by Zdolshek, Rosmarin scored again just 1:04 into the third period to give the Knights a 2-1 lead. Scharfe and Alex Lubczuk earned assists.

Ciccarello's second goal of the game came at 6:32 of the third on a blast from the left point on the power play and tied the score at 2-2. Smith and Tamasy earned assists.

Geneseo had a 16-10 advantage in shots in the third period, but the momentum turned in overtime when Scharfe drew the penalty for boarding at 1:51. Tamasy took the final faceoff for Nazareth and directed the puck back to the point for Smith, whose wrist shot eluded Geneseo goalie Bryan Haude for the game-winning goal.

"I'm really proud of our guys for the way they battled," said Roll. "We have a lot of guys who took a leap of faith to come here, but they came in and competed hard."

Nazareth won despite losing two of its defensemen following a fight late in the second period. Freshman Scott Dawson was disqualified along with Geneseo's Brent Bisbee. Freshman James Redman also was accessed a game misconduct. By rule, Dawson will have to sit out Saturday's game at Geneseo. Game time is 4 p.m.

"It was a great experience to see how the whole school was behind us," Zdolshek said. "It's great to get the program started off on the right foot."