POTSDAM, N.Y.- The SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team (1-1) got a career-high 53 saves from junior goaltender Jon Hall (Dexter, N.Y./Stouffville Spirit) to upset 15th-ranked Hobart College (1-1) on Saturday night at Maxcy Ice Arena. The victory ends an eight-game drought (0-7-1) against the Statesmen. Senior assistant captain Ken Simon (Norwell, Mass. N.Y./Philadelphia Revolution) had three assists to lead the Bears and senior defenseman Max Fogel (Williamsville, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) scored the game-winner late in the third.
Hobart opened the scoring at the 8:01 mark of the first period as senior forward Bronson Kovacs (Sault Ste Marie, Ont/Huntsville Otters) fired a shot wide of the net and junior forward Mac Olson (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Des Moines) knocked the puck past an out of position Hall. With less than two minutes to go in the period, Simon fed sophomore forward Nick Casacci (Ft. Lauderdale, FL/Connecticut Oilers) for his first career goal to tie the score.
The Bears brought pressure early in the middle stanza and were rewarded with freshman forward Dylan Vander Esch‘s (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) first collegiate goal just 36 seconds period. Junior captain Todd Thomas (Davidsville, Pa./Hartford Wolfpack) assisted on the goal. Hobart tied the game just 87 seconds later as junior forward Bo Webster (Aurora, Ontario/Newmarket Hurricanes) finished a pass from freshman forward Jordan Haskell (Stasbury Park, Utah/Portland Jr. Pirates). At the 7:00 mark, the Statesmen made the most of a five-on-three power play as Kovacs gave Hobart its last lead. The advantage lasted less than three minutes before the Bears returned the favor with power-play goal of their own. Senior defenseman Dan McCamey (Dayton, Ohio/Minnesota Flying Aces) finished a perfect pass from Simon at 9:51. Junior forward Billy Pascalli (Deer Park, N.Y./New York Bobcats) put Potsdam up for good at the 16:25mark with a beautiful move around a Hobart defenseman. The Bears carried the 4-3 lead into the final break.
Hall was huge in the third period, making 22 of his saves in the final 20 minutes. After stopping the barrage, Fogel made the most of his opportunity. At 15:22, the defenseman blasted a shot from the right point that Statesman junior goalie Lino Chimienti (Montreal, Quebec/Merritt Centennials) never saw. Hall and the Bears defense did the job the rest of the way. With 40 seconds remaining, Hobart junior forward Ben Gamache (Longlac, Ontario/Veron Vipers) scored an extra-attacker goal, but it was too little too late for the Statesmen.
Chimienti finished with 16 saves in the loss. Hobart was just 1-9 on the power play and Potsdam was 1-3. Over the weekend, Bears penalty killers allowed just one goal on their opponent’s 17 power-play opportunities.
The Bears are back in action on Friday, Nov. 7, when they head to No. 4 SUNY Geneseo to take on the Blue Knights at 7 p.m.
