POTSDAM, N.Y.-For the third time in a month, the SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey duo of Jon Hall (Dexter, N.Y./Stouffville Spirit) and Dylan Vander Esch (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) have been honored by the State University of New York Athletic Conference. Hall earned his sixth Goalie of the Week award and Vander Esch was named the league’s Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season.
Hall stopped 86 of the 93 shots he faced last weekend in a sweep of SUNY Cortland and the nation’s No. 1 team, Oswego State. He made 41 saves in the Bears wild 8-5 win over the Red Dragons on Friday. The following afternoon he turned aside 45 Laker attempts as Potsdam brought down Oswego for the first time in exactly six years. Hall and the Bears are 7-2-1 in their last 10 contests. This season the junior is 12-7-2 with a 2.90 goals-against-average and a .923 save percentage.
Vander Esch had another five-point weekend for Potsdam. He assisted on three goals, including the game-winner, at Cortland. Against the top-ranked Lakers, he single-handedly erased a 2-0 deficit to help spark the 4-2 come-from-behind upset. The weekend puts the freshman at the top of Potsdam’s scoring list with 22 points on 15 goals and seven assists. He is tied for ninth among the nation’s rookies with an average of 1.00 point-per-game. However, 17 of Vander Esch’s points have come in his last eight games for an incredible pace of 2.13 ppg.
The Bears (12-10-3), the fourth seed in the SUNYAC Playoffs, will host fifth-seeded Buffalo State (11-11-3) in the Quarterfinals at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, Feb. 25.
