BUFFALO, N.Y.-The SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (11-7-3, 7-4-3 ECAC West) scored three power-play goals and held off Buffalo State (2-19, 2-12) 4-3 for a weekend sweep of the Bengals. Sophomore goalie Alexane Rodrigue (Monkland, Ontario/Bemidji State) stopped 28 shots to set a Bears single-season record with her ninth victory. Freshman forward Jordan Ott (Hilton, N.Y./Rochester Edge) scored two goals, including the game-winner, to tie the program’s single-season mark of 17 goals set by Annmarie Lewis’12 during 2011-12. The win was also Potsdam’s seventh conference victory, tying the program record set during the same season and helps the Bears keep pace with Oswego in the standings.
As in last night’s opener, the Bengals got on the board first. Morgan Haettich scored an even-strength tally just 3:50 into the contest. Nikki Kirchberger and Jeyna Minnick recorded the assists. Potsdam responded with good pressure after the goal and earned their first power play at the 11:54 mark. About a minute later, Ott made Buffalo State pay with her team-leading eighth power-play goal of the season. Seniors Brittany Lucky(Kanata, Ontario/Ottawa Senators) and Jessica Silveira(Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) assisted on the goal. The Bears outshot the Bengals 14-6, but remained tied after 20 minutes.
Penalties got Buffalo State in trouble again in the second period. After the teams traded unsuccessful man-advantages early, the Bengals took back-to-back penalties. At 14:34, Jenn Crawford(Burlington, Ontario/Stony Creek Sabres) gave Potsdam its first lead of the contest with helpers from Brittany Lucky and Silveira. Just 1:10 later, Buffalo State took another penalty and Brittany Lucky scored 12 seconds after that. Senior assistant captainAmanda Lucky (Kanata, Ontario/Clarkson University) notched the assist. The teams each killed another power play before intermission, but the score remained unchanged.
The Bengals got back within one at 6:59 of the third period. Kara Goodwin scored on a five-on-three power play with an assist from Kendra Peters to make it 3-2. The goal sparked Buffalo State and the Bengals finally answered the Bears’ pressure. At 12:23, Goodwin struck again with an even-strength goal to knot the score at 3-3. The tie lasted less than two minutes as Ott gave Potsdam a 4-3 lead at 14:13 with an assist from Crawford. Buffalo State pulled goalie Jordan Lee a couple times over the last few minutes, but the extra attacker couldn’t get them the equalizer.
Lee finished with 30 saves. The Bears were 3-7 on the power play and the Bengals were 1-5.
Potsdam is currently tied for third place with Oswego State, a team they are 1-0-1 against this season.
The Bears are back in action next weekend when they face SUNY Canton in a home-and-home series on Feb. 15-16. Potsdam will host the Roos on Saturday at 3 p.m. and then head to Canton on Sunday for a matchup at the same time.
