MILTON, MASS.-The SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team’s (7-5-2) second ever trip to Curry College (5-7-2) ended in much the same way as the first. The Bears first faced the Colonels in Milton on Jan. 5, 1987, falling 5-4 in overtime. This afternoon, Curry held on to down the Bears 4-3. Senior forwards Matt Thompson (Anchorage, Alaska/Kenai River Brown Bears) and Jake Rivera (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) led Potsdam with two goals and a goal and an assist, respectively. Tyler Vankleef and Adam Valadao each registered a goal and an assist to lead Curry.
Phil Kiss got the Colonels out in front early, scoring an even-strength tally just 2:03 into the contest. The lead lasted for just over five minutes, before Rivera evened the score at 7:07. Curry made the most of its first power-play opportunity four minutes later. Ryan Fitzgerald struck at 11:37 to put the Colonels in front for good. Curry took the one-goal lead into the break.
Valadeo increased the advantage with another goal on the man advantage 3:05 into the middle stanza. Just 1:23 later, Vankleef scored the eventual game-winner, making it a 4-1 contest. Thompson answered with a power-play goal of his own at 10:32 and he struck again at 14:40 to close the deficit to 4-3. Despite the four goals in the period, Curry still held its one-goal lead after 40 minutes.
The teams battled evenly throughout the third period, but neither could find the back of the net again. The Colonels killed three Potsdam power plays in the final 20 minutes. Bears sophomore goalie Brendan McMenimen (Merrimac, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) was pulled for an extra attacker with 45 seconds left, but Potsdam couldn’t get the equalizer.
McMenimen finished with 35 saves, while Curry counterpart Brett Sinclair stopped 34 shots for the win. The Bears were 1-for-7 on the power play, while the Colonels went 2-for-4.
Potsdam heads to Worcester tomorrow at 3 p.m. to take on Western New England.
