POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team (0-0-1) rallied from a third period deficit to earn a 3-3 tie with Saint Michael’s College (0-0-1) on Friday evening’s season opener. Freshman forward Joey Sollazzo (Ottawa, N.Y./Navan Grads), junior defenseman Mike Sweeney (Pittsburgh, Pa./PAL Islanders) and sophomore forward Vinny Guimond (Sorel-Tracy, Quebec/Gloucester Rangers) each scored for the Bears.
Potsdam opened the scoring 5:07 into the contest. After senior goalie Brendan McMenimen (Merrimack, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) made a save, sophomore defenseman Sean Winikates (Phoenix, Ariz./Philadelphia Jr. Flyers) poked the puck ahead to junior forward Ben Mariano (Harrisburg, Pa./Hartford Wolfpack). Mariano skated out of the zone, setting up a two-on-one opportunity. He held the puck into the right faceoff circle and fed Sollazzo, who ripped it past Purple Knights sophomore Tim Decker (Liverpool, N.Y./Canterbury School). Saint Mike’s tied the game with four seconds left in the period. Freshman forward Brandon Mitchell (North Scituate, R.I./Pomfret School) tapped home a pass from junior forward Nic Hermany (Coquitlam, British Columbia/Melfort Mustang) at the left post.
The score remained tied until just over the halfway through the second period. The Purple Knights took back to back penalties, giving the Bears a five-on-three power play. Sweeney tipped a shot from senior assistant captain Sean Kacerosky (Kendall Park, N.J./New York Bobcats) past Decker to make it 2-1 at 13:34. Sophomore forward Nick Keck (Holland, Pa./Odessa Jackalopes) recorded the second assist on the play. Saint Mike’s answered with two goals in a 6:11 span. Junior forward Sam D’Antuono (Hingham, Mass./Dexter School) tipped a shot from the right point past McMenimen to tie the game. Potsdam took two simultaneous penalties with 2:10 remaining in the period and the Purple Knights made the most of the opportunity. With just 15 seconds remaining in the period, junior forward Patrick Doherty (Tewksbury, Mass./Middlesex Black Bears) wristed a shot from the goal line to right of the goal off of McMenimen to enter the break with a 3-2 lead.
Potsdam outshot Saint Mike’s 15-8 in the final stanza and the pressure paid off. At 7:27, Mariano cycled the puck behind the net to Sweeney. Sweeney found Guimond in the slot and he beat Decker, glove side. The teams alternated penalties over the rest of regulation and the Bears entered overtime down a man for 1:04.
Potsdam killed of the off the penalty in the extra session and was unable to score on a short power-play of its own. Decker made four saves in overtime to preserve the 3-3 draw.
McMenimen finished with 25 saves and Decker stopped 35 shots. The Bears were 1-for-4 on the man advantage and the Purple Knights went 2-for-6.
Potsdam is now 9-0-1 in the all-time series with Saint Mike’s dating back to a 6-4 Bears win in Maxcy Ice Arena on Nov. 2, 1984.
The two teams go at it again in South Burlington, Vt. tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m.
