ASTON, Pa.-The SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (7-6-3, 3-3-3 ECAC West) got a hat trick from freshman forward Jordan Ott (Hilton, N.Y./Rochester Edge) and three points (1g, 2a) from senior forward Jessica Silveira (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder), but had to settle for a 4-4 tie at Neumann University (3-10-1, 16-1) on Sunday afternoon. The roller coaster contest featured four lead changes and four ties
The Knights gained the upper hand early in the game. At the 8:36 mark, Grace Kleinbach scored to give Neumann its first lead of the weekend. Potsdam handled the Knight pressure after the goal and shifted the play toward Neumann’s defensive zone. At 15:15, Ott tied the score on a shot from the slot with assists from Silveira and senior assistant captain Amanda Lucky (Kanata, Ontario/Clarkson University). Nearly two minutes later a checking penalty gave the Bears their first power play of the game. Ott made the most of the opportunity with her second of the contest at 18:56. Silveira recorded her second assist and senior captain Brittany Lucky (Kanata, Ontario/Ottawa Senators) notched the other helper. Potsdam outshot the Knights 9-8 in the first period and the Bears held the one-goal lead at the break.
Neumann opened the middle period with good pressure. The Knights outshot Potsdam 8-0 over the first half of the stanza and it paid off. Meghan Power tied the game at 6:42. Just 30 seconds later Donna Williams regained the lead for Neumann at 3-2. At 12:57, Ott completed her hat trick to tie the game with her second power play tally of the contest. Both Luckys assisted on the goal. Neumann continued to pepper Bears sophomore goalie Alexane Rodrigue (Monkland, Ontario/Bemidji State) with shots, but it was Potsdam that got the last goal of the period. Silveira finished a feed from Ott with two seconds left to give the Bears a 4-3 advantage after 40 minutes. The Knights outshot Potsdam 16-5 in the second period.
The third period was more evenly played and Neumann was able to tie the score at the 13:51 mark. Megan Russelo got the even strength equalizer for the Knights. Defense controlled much of the remainder of the period and regulation ended with the score knotted at 4-4.
The first three minutes of overtime was marked by end to end rushes with no great chances. With 1:17 left, a Bear was hauled down and Potsdam went on the power play for the rest of the game. The Bears moved the puck well in the Neumann zone, but were unable to net the game-winner.
Rodrigue finished with 27 saves, while Knight goalie Justina Mayr stopped 14 shots. The Bears were 2-5 on the power play and Neumann was 0-2.
The impressive days from Ott and Silveira moved them further up the national scoring ranks. Ott’s 1.27 points-per-game rank her 16th in the nation in scoring and second nationally among rookies. She’s eighth in goals-per-game with 0.87 and second in power-play-goals with seven. Silveira is 24th in the nation in scoring with 1.19 points-per-game and is tied with teammate Brittany Lucky in assists-per-game with 0.81.
Potsdam returns home next weekend for a two-game series with ECAC West foe Chatham. The Bears face the Cougars at 3 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday.
