POTSDAM, N.Y.-Sophomore forward Dylan Vander Esch (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) notched his fourth career hat trick as the SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team (7-4-2) held off Johnson and Wales University (4-3-2) 4-3 on Friday night. Senior forward Billy Pascalli (Deer Park, N.Y./New York Bobcats) also scored and freshman goaltender Nate Skidmore (Syracuse, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) made 34 saves to earn his first collegiate victory.
Potsdam jumped on the Wildcats just 42 seconds into the contest. Pascalli fired a low shot from the top of the right circle that beat a screened Johnson & Wales junior goalie Joey Ballmer (Kalamazoo, Mich./Jamestown Ironmen) five-hole. Junior forward Tommy Telesca (Selden, N.Y./New York Bobcats) and sophomore forward Joey Gilhooly (Brooklyn, N.Y./New York Bobcats) each assisted on the play. The Wildcats responded with good pressure and earned a power play at 5:52. At 7:02, J&W junior forward Connor Bates (Laconia, N.H./University of New England) knocked down a rebound off a shot from the point and drove it home to tie the game. Junior defenseman Matt Lanzillotti (Chicago, Ill./Jamestown Ironmen) and junior forward Ben Brouillard (Somerset, Mass./Philadelphia Jr. Flyers) recorded the assists. At 13:40, Vander Esch finished a perfect pass from sophomore defenseman Kyle Thacker (Mississauga, Ontario/North York Rangers) to give the Bears a 2-1 advantage with a power-play goal of their own. J&W finished with a 17-10 advantage in shots, but Skidmore kept Potsdam up by one after 20 minutes.
The second period was more physical and evenly played. At 10:40, a Wildcat was called for a five-minute contact-to-the-head elbow penalty plus a game misconduct. Less than two minutes later, Vander Esch ripped a shot from the top of the right circle over the right shoulder of Ballmer to make it a 3-1 game. The Wildcats killed off the rest of the major and took advantage of their next power play. With just eight seconds left in the period, junior defenseman Michael Mazzotta (Mars, Pa./Jamestown Ironmen) scored on a shot from the right point with assists from sophomore defenseman Luke Veitch (Lewis Center, Ohio/New Jersey Hitmen) and senior forward Cody Sarmiento (Sarasota, Fla./Jamestown Ironmen). J&W entered the locker room down 3-2 after 40.
At the 4:21 mark of the third period, the Wildcats got even with their third power-play tally. Senior defenseman Brett Kangas (Williamstown, Mass./Hartford Wolfpack) scored on a high shot from the left point with assists from Veitch and Brouillard. The teams continued to trade penalties after the goal, but the penalty kill units did their jobs the rest of the way. With under four to go, sophomore defenseman Sean Kacerosky (Kendall Park, N.J./New York Bobcats) skated the puck into the J&W zone and fired a shot off Ballmer’s pads. Vander Esch then flicked the rebound over the Wildcat goalie for the game-winner. Ballmer was pulled with 1:07 left, but J&W couldn’t get the equalizer.
Ballmer finished with 29 saves. The Wildcats outshot Potsdam 37-33 and went 3-for-5 on the man advantage and the Bears were 2-for-6.
Vander Esch now has 12 multipoint games in his 36-game career. He has 17 points this season (12g-5a) in 13 games after totaling 22 (17g-5a) in 26 games last year.
The Bears’ seven wins are the most entering winter break since 2002-03. Potsdam is now off until it heads to Massachusetts in early January. The Bears travel to Milton to face Curry College on Jan. 9 at 4:45 p.m. They then head to Springfield to battle Western New England the following afternoon at 3 p.m.
