POTSDAM, N.Y.—SUNY Potsdam head women’s hockey coach Greg Haney has announced the Bears’ team leadership for the 2021-22 campaign. Senior forward Alexis Clark (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Buffalo Bison) will serve as captain, while fellow seniors, forward Allie Banas (Buffalo, N.Y./Buffalo Bison) and defenseman Ellie Cleary (Buffalo, N.Y./Buffalo Bison), will be Potsdam’s assistant captains.
“Alexis, along with Allie and Ellie are the leaders of the team and know what it takes to be successful,” Haney said. “They will be outstanding representatives for our group, on the ice and in our community. I believe the team leadership is in great hands.”
In 76 career games, Clark has nine goals and eight assists for 17 points. She has also contributed two game-winners and a power-play goal. Banas has 10 points on a goal and nine assists in 68 games over her three seasons. She had a career-high six points in 2019-20. Cleary has been one of Potsdam’s top defensemen in her two seasons, but has also provided plenty of offense. She has six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 46 career games, along with four power-play markers and two game-winners.
Like many other athletes, the trio and their teammates lost their 2020-21 season to pandemic. The Bears were 10-12-2 in 2019-20 with a 7-9-2 mark in the Northeastern Women’s Hockey League (NEWHL). Potsdam has reached the postseason in three of the last four years.
The Bears are tentatively scheduled to open the season at William Smith College in Geneva on October 29.
