FRESNO, CA - Goals by several offensive and defensive players helped lead the Fresno State Bulldogs to their first victory of the season, a 7-1 win against the Santa Clara Broncos Saturday night.

Playing their first game at home, the Bulldogs took the lead in the first with goals by forward Jacob Kessler and defenseman Chris McCormick, and never looked back.

Santa Clara limited Fresno to only one goal in the second period by forward Matt Young at the 18:16 mark; however the Bulldogs came back strong in the third scoring four goals to complete their win.

Young started off the third period scoring his second goal of the night just five minutes in, followed by Kessler’s second goal at the 13:40 mark. A goal by forward Jeremy Selan midway through the period, and a goal by defenseman Trent Fisher would close the door on the Broncos.

Santa Clara scored their only goal of the night on a power play with just under a minute left in the game, ending starting goalie Joe Ricupero’s bid for a shutout.

Referring to his first goal of the season, Young stated the first one is always the toughest, but it felt like a huge relief off his shoulders.

“As soon as I got the puck, as soon as Ross [Piche] dished it to me in the slot I knew exactly where I was going,” said Young. Young also earned an assist on Kessler’s goal.

Young’s line mate Piche also contributed to the score sheet, assisting on both of Young’s goals. Even though the line is relatively new and still working on execution, head coach Marcel Bourdase states the chemistry is there and they can only get better as the season progresses.

“They both have speed and move the puck pretty well,” said Bourdase. “They’re just starting off learning how to play with each other, they have Russell [Koch] in there giving them some size, being able to fight some people off on the wall and get the puck out to them, and they’re going to have a good year.”

Young feels the same way emphasizing the speed the two have and his enjoyment playing with Piche.

“It’s a lot of fun, it’s always exciting,” said Young. “I know he’s a really fast skater, so I know if I put the puck in court he’s going to get to it and something’s going to develop out of that.”

Aside from effectively shutting down the Broncos offensive, the Bulldogs defense stepped up offensively adding their names to the score sheet.

Defenseman McCormick, who scored a shorthanded goal, said it felt great and noted the biggest difference between this game and the games against Northern Arizona was the ability to play more as a team.

“We played more as a unit and we were able to pass the puck back and forth, and play with each other, and forwards were able to keep the puck in the net and back check, so it was good,” said McCormick.

Kessler also noted quite a difference in the way they played Saturday night.

“Well I noticed when we did make a mistake we didn’t let it get to us, and we were moving our feet more,” said Kessler, “we played the body more, it just looked like we were out skating them today.”

The Bulldogs look to continue their success against the Broncos tomorrow night as they travel to San Jose to face Santa Clara on their home ice. Game time is 1:30 p.m. on the South rink and fans can listen to the game live at http://bulldogicehockey.com