GENESEO, N.Y.-SUNY Geneseo (16-6-4) scored two goals in the first and second periods en route to a 4-1 victory over the SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team (11-11-4) on Wednesday night in the SUNYAC Quarterfinals. Junior forward Logan Brown (North Woodstock, N.H./Boston Rangers) scored for the Bears.
The first period featured an evenly played scoreless battle until nearly the midway point. At the 11:38 mark, RJ Burns put the Ice Knights in front for good. Just 2:01 later, Matt Solomon made it a 2-0 contests. All Potsdam chances were foiled by Geneseo’s defense and goaltender Devin McDonald. The Ice Knights outshot the Bears 13-12 in the opening 20 minutes.
Pat Condon put Potsdam in a three-goal deficit just 32 seconds into the middle stanza. The Bears turned up the pressure after the goal and peppered McDonald for the rest of the period. However, before they could close the gap, David Ripple struck at 9:03 to make it 4-0. The goal ended the night for sophomore goalie Brendan McMenimen (Merrimack, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club). He was replaced by freshman goalie Nate Skidmore (Syracuse, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres). Potsdam continued to grind and the effort finally paid off at 12:50. Freshman defenseman Dom Horvath (Toledo, Ohio/Brantford 99ers) set up Brown to make it 4-1. The Bears outshot Geneseo 18-11 in the second period, but still trailed 4-1 after 40 minutes.
The third period saw 20 minutes of penalties called as the clock wound down. Potsdam finished with a 15-14 edge in shots, but the score remained unchanged at the final buzzer.
McMenimen was tagged with the loss, allowing four goals on 16 shots in the first 29:03. Skidmore was perfect with 18 saves in the final 30:57. McDonald earned the victory with 44 saves.
The Bears were 0-for4 on the power play and Geneseo finished 0-for-2.
The loss brings to a close the careers of seniors Billy Pascalli (Deer Park, N.Y./New York Bobcats), Matt Thompson (Anchorage, Alaska/Kenai River Brown Bears), Jake Rivera (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack), captain Todd Thomas (Davidsville, Pa./Hartford Wolfpack) and assistant captain Brad Campagna (Monroe, N.Y./New York Bobcats).
