FREDONIA, N.Y.-SUNY Fredonia (2-1-1, 2-0-1 SUNYAC) scored three third period goals to defeat the SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team (2-1-2, 1-1-1) 4-1 on Friday night. Sophomore forward Mike Sweeney (Pittsburgh, Pa./PAL Islanders) scored for the Bears and Potsdam junior goalie Brendan McMenimen (Merrimac, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) made 41 saves.
The Blue Devils controlled the play in the first period. They peppered McMenimen with 20 shots, but he kept them off the board. The Bears created a few chances of their own, but there was no score after 20 minutes.
Fredonia looked to hold its edge in the second period with the help of three power plays, but it was Potsdam that drew first blood. Sweeney scored on the man advantage at 5:52 with assists from senior assistant captain Vinny Caligiuri (Shoreham, N.Y./Hartford Wolfpack) and senior captain Nick Casacci (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Connecticut Oilers). The lead was short lived as Jon Carlson evened the score with a power-play marker of his own 2:48 later. McMeniman had 32 saves through two periods as the teams entered the second intermission knotted at one apiece.
The Bears outshot Fredonia 16-12 in the third, but the Blue Devils pulled away. Bobby Polachek put Fredonia up for good at the 7:35 mark. Just over 10 minutes later, Polachek struck again with a power-play marker to make it 3-1. With 52 seconds on the clock, Kyle Jelinski tacked on a fourth goal, also on the man advantage, to close out the scoring.
Eric Bogart made 27 saves to earn the win. The Bears were 1-for-3 on the power play and the Fredonia was 3-for-7.
Potsdam looks to rebound tomorrow night as they head to Buffalo State for a 7 p.m. contest.
