CANTON, N.Y.-SUNY Canton (5-2) scored two in the first and three in the second en route to a 6-1 victory over the SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (5-3) on Tuesday night. Junior assistant captain Anna-Rose Bertin (Marathon, Ontario/CIH Academy) scored the Bears’ goal.
Potsdam fell behind just 50 seconds into the contest as Noelle Niemiec scored on the Kangaroos first shot of the game. The Bears struggled to create offense in the opening period, just firing three shots on Canton goalie Brooke Susac. With time running out, Margaret Troiano struck to send the Roos into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.
Tessa Dobson made it 3-0 just 15 seconds into the second period and Rhea Coad put Canton up by four at the 4:08 mark. Bertin finally got the Bears on the board at 11:05 by lifting a rebound over Susac. Sophomore forward Jenna Patterson (Boissevain, Manitoba/Westman Wildcats) and junior forward Brenna Wilson (Kanata, Ontario/Ottawa Senators) each assisted on the goal. Niemiec stopped any momentum Potsdam was building as she struck for her second goal of the contest on the man advantage seven minutes later. The Bears created some chances on the power play late in the period, but trailed 5-1 after 40 minutes despite outshooting Canton 13-11.
Sydney Jordan added another power-play marker to make it a 6-1 game 8:04 into the third period. Potsdam outshot the Roos 11-9 in the last 20 minutes, but Susac turned aside every Bears attempt to seal the win.
Bears freshman goalie Nicole Whitesell (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Balmoral Hall) made 15 saves and allowed four goals in the first two periods, while fellow freshman Kayla McCabe (Watertown, N.Y./Syracuse Nationals) stopped eight shots and allowed a goal in the third during her collegiate debut. Susac finished with 26 saves.
Canton was 2-for-5 on power play and Potsdam went 0-for-6.
Next, the Bears head to top-ranked SUNY Plattsburgh for a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday.
