BUFFALO, N.Y.-Three goals by Buffalo State (1-2, 1-0 NEWHL) helped lead the Bengals over the SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (2-1, 0-1 NEWHL) 3-1 Friday night. Freshman forward Natalie Wasielewski(Carnegie, PA/Pittsburgh Penguins Elite) scored the lone goal for the Bears and sophomore goalie Alexa Pfeiffer (Sylvania, Ohio/Little Caesar’s) finished with 27 saves in the loss.
Only 1:55 into the first period, Potsdam got on the board with a goal from Wasielewski. She picked up the puck at the center ice boards and moved forward on a breakâaway. Wasielewski made a move and Buffalo State goalie Justine Silva bit. She wristed in passed Silva, on her stick side, for was Wasielewski’s second goal in three games so far this season. Less than six minutes later, Buffalo State took a shot that was saved by Pfieffer, but not controlled. After a scramble in front of the net, the Bengals’ forward Bri Carroll poked it over the goal line to tie the contest at one apiece. Each team was awarded a power play opportunity following Buffalo State’s goal, but neither was successful in taking the lead and the teams went into the break tied 1-1.
The Bengals’ returned the favor to the Bears at the start of the second period with their own quick goal. Potsdam dumped the puck into the corner to make a quick line change, but the puck came up the boards and was poked to Kira Herkey, who sent it up to Christine Harris for a break-away at center ice. Harris was one-on-one with Pfeiffer and beat her glove side for the 2-1 lead at the 1:36 mark. Buffalo State’s play picked up following the goal and ended up holding the Bears to six shots during the 20 minutes of play with the Bengals getting off 11. Before the end of the period, Buffalo State tacked on another goal. Georgia Kleiner took a shot from the wing that was redirected by Lila Toczek, but Pfeiffer made the stick save. The puck was loose in front and Emma Ruggiero buried her shot at 18:32 to give the Bengals the 3-1 lead to take into the final stanza.
The third period started off with a penalty by each team and both were killed off by their respective defenses. Back-to-back penalties on the Bengals at 13:00 and 13:53, Coach Jay Green made the decision to pull Pfeiffer for the 6-3 advantage. Buffalo State held their ground to kill off both penalties and keep Potsdam off the board which helped to secure their 3-1 victory.
Buffalo State held the slight advantage in shots 30-24. The Bengals went 0-for-7 and the Bears 0-for-4 in power play opportunities.
Silva stopped 23 in the win.
Potsdam will turn around to battle Buffalo State again Saturday at 2 p.m.
