BUFFALO, N.Y.—Buffalo State (4-0, 2-0 ECAC West) scored two goals in the first and third periods to down the SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (1-2-1, 0-2) 4-0 on Saturday afternoon. Nikki Kerchberger scored twice for the Bengals.
Maddie Toczek scored 4:30 into the contest to give the Bengals an early 1-0 lead for the second day in-a-row. The Bears followed the goal with back-to-back power plays, but despite moving the puck well, were unable to tie the game. Midway through the second man advantage, Erin Gehen broke loose for a shorthanded goal. Potsdam then killed off two penalties of its own, but Buffalo State led 2-0 at the first intermission.
The Bears’ finest hockey of the afternoon came in the second period, as they outshot the Bengals 9-7. However, Buffalo State goalie Justine Silva was sharp again and continued to frustrate Potsdam. The score was unchanged after 40 minutes.
After killing off the Bears’ fourth power play of the contest, Kirchberger struck for her two goals in a 3:18 span to put the game out of reach. Kirchberger was called for a trip late in the contest and Potsdam pulled senior assistant captain Abby Tardelli (Potsdam, N.Y./North Country Ice Storm) for the final 2:47. The extra attacker couldn’t get the Bears any closer as they fell 4-0.
Tardelli finished with 22 saves, matching Silva stop for stop. Potsdam was 0-for-5 on the power play and the Bengals went 0-for-2.
Bears ninth year head coach Jay Green saw several positives despite the contest’s outcome.
“The effort’s there,” said Green. “We had all types of scoring opportunities. We’re just not scoring goals. Defensively we only gave up 26 shots, so our shots-against are way down this year. That’s a huge improvement. That’s what we’re striving for. It was a strong game by everybody. We had lots of power play opportunities with great puck control both nights. We’ll go back to the drawing board. We’ve got to get over the hump. You can’t win games by scoring one or no goals a night.”
The Bears look to take a step in the right direction when they host Route 11 rival SUNY Canton at Maxcy Ice Arena on Tuesday night. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
