A player on Erie County Community College’s men’s hockey team has been arrested after assaulting a referee during a game February 26.
Freshman Brandon Day of West Seneca was sitting in the penalty box as the final seconds of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s national championship game ticked off the clock. With his team trailing with 39 seconds remaining in the game against Dakota College at Bottineau, Day abruptly left the penalty box and viciously tackled a referee, sending him hard to the ice. He was given a 10-minute penalty for abusing an official, and the game was called after the incident.
WKBW-TV in Buffalo reported that SUNY Broome Police are still investigating the incident and didn’t say if charges would be filed, but Day remained in police custody as of 9 p.m. on February 26.
Erie lost the game, 7-4, to Bottineau, winning its second-straight championship. Erie won the championship in 2015.
Day is a first-year defenseman for the school, previously attending West Seneca East Senior High School. He was interviewed after a win earlier this season.
