The SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team (7-1-1, 3-1 SUNYAC) never trailed in a 4-2 victory at SUNY Fredonia (4-5-1, 2-3) on Friday night. Sophomore Massena native Tyler Young (Massena, N.Y./Kanata Lasers) scored two goals. Freshman defenseman Jon Venter (Guilford, Conn./Syracuse Stars) scored his first career goal and sophomore forward Vinny Guimond (Sorel-Tracy, Quebec/Gloucester Rangers) accounted for the other Bears’ goal. Senior goalie Brendan McMenimen (Merrimack, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) stopped 35 shots for his 16th career win, moving him into a tie for seventh on the program’s all-time list.
Young put Potsdam up 1-0 with a power-play marker at the 15:10 of the first period. Senior assistant captain Dylan Vander Esch (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) and senior captain Kyle Thacker (Mississauga, Ontario/North York Rangers) each assisted on the play. Guimond struck just 41 seconds later with a helper from freshman forward Brett Horn (Cary, N.C./Humboldt Broncos). At 17:06, the Blue Devils finally got on the board on a goal from Victor Tracy and the Bears took the 2-1 lead into the break.
Potsdam outshot Fredonia 13-10 in the scoreless second period.
The Bears took advantage of a 5-on-3 power play midway through the final stanza. Venter capitalized on a feed from senior assistant captain Sean Kacerosky (Kendall Park, N.J./New York Bobcats) to extend the lead to 3-1. Fredonia countered with a power-play goal of its own from Todd Schauss at 12:59. The Blue Devils pulled goalie Eric Bogart for an extra attacker with a minute remaining, but Young made them pay with an empty-netter with just six seconds left. Vander Esch and senior forward Joey Gilhooly (Brooklyn, N.Y./New York Bobcats) recorded the last assists of the night on the goal.
Bogart finished with 29 saves. Fredonia edged Potsdam in shots 37-33 and went 1-for-2 on the power play. The Bears finished 2-for-3.
The Bears have now won four straight and are off to their best start through nine games since an 8-1 beginning to the 1995-96 season.
Potsdam looks to keep rolling when it heads to Buffalo State tomorrow night for a 7 p.m. showdown.
